The Destiny of Fire's Song
by Firestorm Nauralagos
Summary: Story 1 in the Firesong Saga. Most people don't bother to see things with their heart. Pain has a funny way of opening your heart and making you see from a whole different perspective. Completed and under revisions, which are complete through chapter 14.
1. Chapter 1: Asteroid Picnic

_**A/N:**_ _This is the edited version of chapter one. I hope it's better than the last version. It's definitely longer, that's for sure. For those of you that are new to my story, welcome to The Destiny of Fire's Song! It is currently under construction from chapters one to 20. Therefore, if you read the next 20 chapters and see how short they are, that's because they were published over 6 months ago, when I wasn't as good at writing long chapters. Soooo . . . yeah. Read and review, please! Comments, questions, and constructive criticism are welcome, flames never._

_**Disclaimer:**_ _I don't own anything but Alexandra and her parents. Ooh, it's a butterfly! :D_

"Don't you just love days like today?" I heard my mother ask.

"Of course. Clear skies, blooming flowers, and a picnic with you and my lovely daughter," my father said, ruffling my dark hair.

I laughed and took another bite of my sandwich. "Can you tell me about Ravenwood again, Daddy?" I asked.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, and of course I can." He closed his eyes for a minute, trying to remember how the story began. "In another world of the Spiral, there is a place called

Wizard City. In it is the greatest school of magic in the Spiral."

"Patrick, you're making it boring again! Seven year old girls like interesting stories, not long, boring lectures. Let _me _tell it." Alyssa Firesong told the story much better, painting pictures in my mind of beautiful waterfalls, green meadows, majestic trees, and best of all, hundreds upon hundreds of brightly colored flowers. I stared at her, enthralled by her story. I usually just heard my dad tell it; to hear it from my mother was a rare treat. "When you're 11, we will bring you to the Basilica, home to the Spiral Door, and we'll bring you to Ravenwood, where you'll begin your training as a wizard."

"As a _Theurgist_, you mean, Alyssa. And Fire will be your secondary school, Alexandra."

"Patrick, let her develop her own interests. What if she doesn't want to be a Theurgist? What if she wants to learn a different school?"

"She would be shaming our family by not doing as her father wishes."

"Don't be so harsh; Alex is only seven. She can choose her school when she's old enough to enter Ravenwood. Now, it looks a bit stormy out. We should head back soon. Hurry up and finish your lunch, Alex." We tried to enjoy the rest of our picnic, but tension had built too high.

My future magic school was often a heated debate between my parents. My father wanted my to become a Theurgist with fire as a secondary school, and my mother said that I should choose what I wanted to be. I just sat and listened in silence whenever they had an argument; I would do as my mother said and not decide until I was 11. We walked back to our home about six minutes later. I was the first one to the door of Number Eight, Redflame Street, the Forum. It was a small, two story house, made of red bricks. The roof was made of orange tiles, and the door was black. Just above my head was the knocker, which was gold and shaped like a dragon curled around itself. I could see that we'd left a window open, and the crimson curtains were blowing out from it. The corner of one caught on the white shutters and tore.

"Here's the key. Want to open it, Alex?" I nodded and took the key from my mother. I reached up and fitted it into the lock, pulled on the door a little, and turned the key as hard as I could. It clicked.

"I did it!"

"Yes, you did! Patrick, Alex unlocked the house all by herself!"

"Nice job, Alex!" He smiled as I pushed the door open. We entered, leaving the picnic basket by the door. I was the only one that saw the shadow pass over our house . . .

-V-

"Alex, want to come with me to get the mail?" My mother called, putting her coat on.

"Yes, please."

"Put your jacket on; it looks like rain."

"Okay." I pulled on my rain jacket and tugged the hood over my black hair.

"We'll be back later, Patrick! We're going to get the mail!"

"Okay! Don't stay out too long; it's very dark out there!"

"I'm aware!" Muttering to herself, she pulled her own hood up, tucked her light brown hair under it, and opened the door. I silently followed her out into the street.

We walked to the post office in silence. I could tell that she was upset about something, but I didn't dare ask what it was. My mom opened our mailbox with the key, took out the letter inside it, and closed the box.

"Come on, Alex. Let's go," she said briskly, taking my hand. I studied her light gray eyes carefully, trying to determine why she was upset. She caught me staring, and I quickly looked away.

We were in sight of our home when disaster struck. The same shadow as before passed over us, making the dark, ominous clouds seem friendly.

"Mommy . . . ?" I whispered.

"Shh. I don't know what's going on. Just stay here." She pushed me into a door frame and started towards the house. I waited in the silence, completely bewildered, trying to figure out why my mother had just left me there. Soon enough, I knew.

When I looked up into the sky, I saw a rain of . . . something. There were big shadows falling towards Earth. Soon, the shadows became rocks, and then fireballs. I knew what the rain of fiery rocks was: an asteroid shower. I had learned about them in school. They were deadly, but thankfully didn't happen often. There was an asteroid drill once a month, just in case of an emergency. We went down into the basement and sat in the sturdiest place. This time, there were no teachers and calm announcements telling us what to do. There was no warm, inviting basement and groups of students just as bored as me. This was the real thing, and I was on my own. I decided that the safest thing to do would be to stay where I was. A basement was best, the teachers had said, but anywhere strong and stable would do. I made myself as small as possible in the door frame and watched as the first asteroids slammed into the street.

It was nothing like I'd expected; the ground shook like a herd of helephants were charging down the street. Fires were catching in every available spot, including my jeans and coat. I screamed and patted at them, and eventually fell to the ground and started rolling around. Thank goodness for fire safety assemblies. When the fires in my clothes were out, I crawled back to the door frame and sat there, crying silently and praying that my mother would come back. She had to save me. I knew she would. She never broke her promises and always kept me safe.

-V-

It was over. I had sat in that doorway, crying and shaking in fear, for five hours, and the asteroids had finally stopped falling. I peeled my eyes open-they had stuck shut from the smoke and tears- and looked around at the street-or what remained of it. There was destruction everywhere. Every house had been hit, leaving only pieces standing. That included the building I had sheltered in front of. The entire door frame was gone; I was surrounded in three massive boulders. It had been a miracle I hadn't been hit. I slowly stood, supporting myself by putting a hand on the boulder. I quickly withdrew my hand-the rock was smoking hot. I approached the spot where my house had stood. There was nothing. Nothing but a huge crater and some black glass.

"Hello?" I called. My voice was raspy and hoarse from the smoke, and quiet, too, but the words sounded loud in the silent street.

"Alex?" Someone was calling my name. I turned. Behind me stood . . . someone. It was a man in ragged, sooty robes. His hair was streaked with ashes, and his face had been blackened by the smoke. I recognized his voice, though . . . "It's me, your dad."

"Daddy?" I whispered. He nodded. I ran forwards and threw my arms around him."Daddy, what happened? Mommy disappeared and the asteroids started falling and the house is gone and I can't find Mommy and . . . "

"Shh, it's okay. We'll find her. Come with me; I know how to find her." He took my hand and led me away.

I read the words over the door slowly: "Forum . . . Missing . . . Persons . . . Bur-bur-"

"Bureau. The people who work here will help us find your mom."

"Okay." I whispered. We entered the large stone building.

The lady sitting behind the desk looked up. "Can I help you?"

"Yes. We were victims of the asteroid shower, and we're looking for someone."

"Name?"

"Alyssa Firesong."

"Hmm . . . I'm sorry, sir, but she's been reported dead. Someone found her body under an asteroid." I stared at her in shock. My mommy? Dead? No. That couldn't be true. It must have been someone else. "This was turned in to us." She handed my father something small. It was a reddish ring with a gold stone in the center. On the inside of it was carved a word: Firesong. My mother's wedding ring.

"No . . . she's . . ."

"Dead. I'm very sorry, sir. If you go to the Natural Disaster Recovery building, they can help you recover from your losses." The sentence sounded stupid, and I made sure she knew it.

"We don't want help recovering from our losses! We want her back! I want my mommy back! Your stupid recovery building won't do anything but tell us, 'Oh, we're sorry that your mommy's dead, here, have some money to rebuild your house!' It won't help!" I screamed in

anger. Everyone in the room stared at me.

"Alex, stop making a scene like a Necromancer and control yourself," my father hissed.

"No! I won't! You're being calm and sad, I'm being angry and sad! I'm allowed to, Dragonspyre is a free world!" I yelled. I turned and ran from the building. I ran as far as I could get from that "Missing Persons Bureau" and hid, sobbing. After sitting there for a while, I realized something: my mother was dead. She wasn't coming back. I would never see her again, never hear her again, never touch her again. I would never hear her tell the story of Ravenwood. She would never pull me close and hug me, and I would never smell her sweet perfume. She was gone. Slowly, I dried my tears from my silver eyes. I brushed the ashes from my hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. I stood and dusted the smoke and dirt off my clothes, and I slowly walked back to the Missing Persons Bureau. My father was standing outside. I approached him slowly, holding my head high and keeping my stare level.

"Alex! I thought . . ."

"You thought I had run away for good. I acted like a child, Daddy. I was stupid to be so angry. She's gone; I have to accept it. I apologize for being so immature, and from now on, I will try to do better," I said frostily. He stared at me, completely shocked. "Now, let's go to that Natural Disaster Recovery place. They can help us; we can rebuild our house, go back to the way things were, and survive without her." I easily cast aside my grief like I thought a Theurgist would do. I had no idea that casting aside grief was not at all the trait of a Theurgist . . .

_**ONE YEAR LATER**_

"Dad, I'm home," I called, slamming the door shut. I had dropped the "Daddy" and just started calling him "Dad" about a month after the asteroid shower. One extra syllable, one extra second wasted on speaking. Each second I wasted speaking could be used to do something worthwhile. "Dad?" There was no answer. "Hello, anyone home?" I peeked into his study, where he normally sat, working on his accounting job. It was empty. I ran upstairs and looked in his room. Empty. I went to the kitchen. Empty. I was about to leave when I saw something on the table: an envelope with a red dragon. My father's seal. I didn't like snooping, but I picked up the letter anyways. When I turned it over, I saw my name written in Patrick Firesong's neat handwriting. I tore open the envelope and pulled out a letter.

**Dear Alexandra:**

**I am sorry to leave with no warning, but I have been given a job offer somewhere else in Dragonspyre. I had to leave immediately. The job provides a home for me, but it is too small to share with you. I'm sorry. I won't be back, and don't try to find me. You're a smart, brave girl; you can survive on your own. If it comes to such a situation that you can't make do alone, go to the orphanage in the Crucible. They will care for you. Once you turn 11, go to the Basilica and travel to Ravenwood. Become a Theurgist-Pyromancer like I have wished for you to do, and then you will be able to live in Ravenwood until you're an adult. Someday, perhaps, you can return to this house. Maybe I'll be there. Maybe.**

**-Your father, Patrick Firesong**

Abandoned. That's what I was. Abandoned.

_**A/N:**_ _Sheesh,this is my longest chapter yet! It went from under 600 words to 2,419! You've got to admit that's pretty impressive. So, did you like the first version better, or the second version? I think I know the answer to that :)_


	2. Chapter 2: Journey to the Basilica

_**A/N:**_ _This is the edited version of chapter two._

"Had to leave immediately, huh . . ." I said to myself, reading the letter again and again. The more times I read it, the more I realized that it was a lie; the whole thing was a lie! The way his handwriting was; it was a bit shaky and more like a fast scrawl; he'd been nervous and in a hurry. Not even my slightly absent-minded father would "forget" to tell me that he had a new job, and that I couldn't go with him. The job "provided a house, but was too small to share"? Sounded like a lame excuse to me. _Maybe _he'd be back for me in a few years. Maybe. I was willing to bet not.

With a snort of disgust, I threw the letter down on the table and stormed upstairs. I ignored the door to my bedroom, going instead to the bathroom. Inside, I locked the door behind me and stared into the mirror. It was cloudy, and I wiped it off. What I saw with my eyes was an eight year old girl. Ragged black hair, cold silver eyes, pale, thin face. What I saw with my heart was someone that had survived an asteroid shower, had her house destroyed, suffered the death of her mother and the slow deterioration of her father, and was now abandoned in one of the most dangerous worlds in the Spiral. I saw someone who'd had about enough of life beating her up and knocking her down. I saw someone who, although young, was ready to take her life into her own hands.

That was exactly what I planned to do.

It didn't take me long to prepare. Traveling through Dragonspyre was a dangerous task, even for the hardiest of wizards, let alone an eight year old. I had to pack light and pack carefully. First, I chose a bag. It was a small backpack, one that could be easily stuffed under a chair or into a small drawer, one that could be hidden easily. The bag was black, made of leather, and extremely durable. I had read Dragonspyre survival books often, finding the subject interesting, so I knew what I should pack. First was food. I put in a package of crackers, a loaf of bread, some dried fruit, and a water bottle filled with cool, fresh water. I threw in an emergency blanket and a flashlight, too.

The last thing was a black, skull shaped wand that had belonged to my great aunt. She had been the first and only Necromancer in the family, and had been shunned because of it. I hoped that I could use it to protect myself if it was necessary, and I felt a strange sort of connection to the wand. I pulled on my coat, put my sneakers back on, and left the house. I locked the door, took one last look at the place, and started walking. I never looked back.

I basically knew which way to go: down. Dragonspyre was built like a massive staircase, with each level being separated into several "districts." The Forum was near the top, directly below the Crown of Fire. Next to it was the Dragonspyre Academy. My parents hadn't wanted me to attend the elite school of magic, although with my heritage I could easily have gotten accepted. The place was very hostile towards Theurgists and discouraged the learning of Life magic.

If I kept going to the left, eventually I would find a set of stairs. They would lead me down to the Crucible. From the Crucible, I would find my way to the Necropolis, and then to the next staircase, which would take me to the Plaza of Conquests. From there, I could go down one last set of stairs to the Athenium, where there was a portal to the Tower Archives. The librarian there would be able to help me find the way to the Basilica. The only problem would be finding my way around the many twists and turns of Dragonspyre. It was a maze full of Undead, which would attack in a moment. I had to be careful, or I could easily become lost. I started out confidently.

My first challenge was nighttime. I had _finally _found the stairs to the Crucible, after an entire day of wandering the streets. I barely had enough energy to stumble down the steps before collapsing on the side of the street. I rested for a few minutes, drank some of my water, and then began my search for a better resting place. I found it twenty minutes later: a secret spot under the stairs, a small indent in the wall just big enough for one eight year old girl to hide in. Wrapped in my emergency blanket with my coat for a pillow, I slowly fell into a sleep riddled by dark nightmares.

I dreamed first of my father. I saw him lying in a dungeon, starved and tortured. I tried to call to him, but my tongue felt like it was coated in paste. There was laughing . . . I could remember only the laughing. It was the voice of a young girl, 13 at the most, but there was a sharp edge to the laughter, like the blade of a knife made into a sound. I saw a man next, a tall man dressed all in black. I couldn't see his face. There was a beautiful woman next, with long red hair and gentle green eyes. She smiled at me, but then shrieked and disappeared in a puff of smoke. I saw my mother next, watched as an asteroid crushed her to death. There was an image of flames, a laughing skull, and then . . . nothing. Nothing at all.

Three days later, I stumbled into the Tower Archives. I had been chased, fallen down a set of stairs, gotten covered in dirt, burned myself on the lava that submerged a piece of a bridge, and lost my way dozens of times. I was filthy, starving, exhausted, and half dead when I finally found the librarian. His name was Oskar Crowfriend, and I knew him well.

"Alexandra, what in the name of the Dragon Titan happened to you?" He asked, shocked when he finally recognized me.

"Trying to find the Basilica. I've been in the streets for maybe three or four days now. My dad disappeared, and he left a note saying to go to Ravenwood." It was only partly a lie; my father _had _told me to go to Ravenwood, just not in the hateful note he'd left for me.

"You mean you've walked all the way here _alone_?"

I nodded tiredly. "Can you please help me find the Basilica? I have to get to Ravenwood."

"Of course. Are you sure you can manage once you get to the Spiral Door?"

"Pretty sure. I heard that everyone in Ravenwood is really nice, and Wizard City is a safe place to go. I can find a way to stay safe."

"If you're sure. Follow me, please." I followed the librarian through the Tower Archives, past shelves upon shelves stacked high with ancient scrolls and books. Finally, we reached the portal. "It's right through here. Want me to take you to the Door?"

"No, thanks. I've got to do this alone, but thanks anyways. How do I get to the Spiral Door once I'm inside?"

"Just keep going up; the Basilica is very small. The Spiral Door is at the very top of it."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Goodbye, Alexandra, and good luck!"

"Thanks! Bye!" I stepped into the portal.

When I could see my surroundings, I realized that I was standing at the base of a tall ramp. I started walking upwards. Three older wizards ran by me, and I pressed myself against the wall. They ignored me. I continued walking upwards. Suddenly, the red brick path ended, turning into a tan brick octagon. In the center was a purple brick circle, with a red dragon painted on it. The symbol of Dragonspyre. There was a big tan door in the center, and over the top of the door were several circles with colored pictures on them. I got closer and stared at the pictures. One was dark green with a picture of a rearing brown . . . thing. What was it called? I thought hard for a minute. "Oh, right! A grizzly bear," I said to myself. There was a light green circle with a cross-legged cow on it. The Moodha, I thought it was called. There was also a gray circle with a dog head, a blue circle with a sun, a moon, and a star. The last circle was red with a big tree on it. The pictures meant nothing to me. I twisted the doorknob and pulled. The door didn't open. I tried pushing on it. It still didn't open.

"Having trouble?" An amused voice asked from behind me. I spun around. Sitting on a bench was a boy dressed in icy blue and white. His accent was strange, nothing like the Dragonspyrian voices I was used to. He looked about 17. I stared at him for a minute, completely startled. Finally, I nodded nervously.

"I can't open the door."

"That's because you didn't select a world. Where are you headed?"

"Ravenwood."

"That's the tree. Just touch it with your wand and open the door." I didn't move.

"Well? Are you gonna go in?"

"I don't have a wand. I'm not even a wizard yet." I had forgotten about my great-aunt's wand, and it probably wouldn't have worked anyways.

"Well, that would be a problem. I'll help you open it." He stood up, took a tall silver staff from behind him, and touched the tree circle. The circle glowed and got larger, and I heard a clicking noise, like a lock was opening. "Go ahead."

For the first time, I smiled. "Thank you." I turned the handle and opened the door. Inside, all I could see was white light, but there was a faint scent of trees and flowers drifting through the door. After hesitating a moment, I stepped forwards and pulled the door shut behind me.

_**A/N:**_ _For those of you that have never been to Dragonspyre in the game, they have Russian-sounding accents. Alexandra's isn't quite as thick as some of the others', but she only lived there for eight years, and she spent the rest of her life living in Wizard City._


	3. Chapter 3: Wizard City

_**A/N:**_ _Here is edited version of chapter 3. Thanks to Lord Energy for noticing my spelling mistake, which I fixed._

The second I stepped into the white light, it began to bend, changing colors, twisting, turning, and making me _dizzy_. I closed my eyes for a minute. When I opened them, I was standing in a high, circular room. The walls were brown, and they looked almost like the bark of trees. There were lighter brown designs, swirls and spirals and oddly shaped leaves. There were several small trees surrounding me, and when I looked up, I saw a stone circle, suspended by stone pillars. The circle was brown, with green vine and leaf designs on it. Just ahead of me, hanging from the stone, was a red flag with a gold border. I looked behind me at the door. It was held in place by a huge tree root. I realized that I was on a raised mound in the center of the chamber. Feeling awed by the sheer size of the place, I slowly walked down to the level part of the room. In front of me was a small, dark tunnel. Two girls dressed in strange, purple and yellow clothes ran through it and up to the door, laughing. I was guessing that I had to go through the tunnel, so I took a step into it. Nothing jumped out and attacked me. No traps closed tightly. It was safe. I slowly continued forwards into the darkness. I soon crashed into a wall. I felt for a knob. Nothing. Was I trapped in that small place? Desperate, I pushed on the wall. It swung open easily, to my relief. Light flooded into the room, and I stepped out of the tunnel.

Often times, I will describe a place as beautiful. Nightside, Dragonspyre, Grizzleheim... I think of many things as beautiful. However, nothing could compare to my first view of Ravenwood. There was no sign, no person standing there saying, "This is Ravenwood!" But somehow, I just knew. I was in Ravenwood, the place I'd heard so many stories about, the place that I'd been dreaming of since I was five. The place was slightly dim, but the ground was dappled with splotches of light. When I looked behind me, I saw that I'd been inside the biggest tree I had ever seen in my life. It must have been over 100 feet tall, and its branches made a roof over the entire school. Lining the pathway were several small buildings. The one directly opposite me was made of gray stone. Around the very top was a strip of light blue, which was spotted with . . . what were they . . . snowflakes! That's what they were called. I had never seen a snowflake in person before, having been born in a world made of fire. The roof was made of blue tiles. Across from the building was a tower that matched the smaller building. From it, blasts of cold air were blowing, and a snow-covered tree grew beside it. I looked around, smiling more brightly than I had in a very long time. I hadn't felt this happy since . . . I didn't know when I'd last been so happy. It had been at least a year, maybe more. I fell in love with the place instantly.

"Are you lost, little one?" I jumped when I heard the deep, male voice. I spun around. Standing behind me was a very tall, thin man dressed all in black. He wore a robe with gold designs, a gold sash, and black boots. His hair was long and black, and he had a thin black beard. The man was pale, having skin like a ghost's, and he held a tall black staff with a golden dragon curled around the top. He looked stern and powerful, but I wasn't scared of him, somehow.

"Kind of. Is this Ravenwood?" I tried to sound brave, which is slightly difficult when you're filthy and tired.

"It is. Where are you going?"

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I've never been here before."

"Where are your parents?"

"My mom is dead, and my dad disappeared," I replied, waving away the question like a puff of smoke.

"I see. What is your name?"

"Alexandra Firesong."

"Come with me, Alexandra. I will take you to the Headmaster." He paused for a moment. "My name is Malistaire Drake. Please, call me Professor Drake." I nodded in response, following as Professor Drake walked down the path. He led me towards a tunnel, and as we passed a small iron fence, I heard a British voice call a greeting to the professor.

"Professor Drake, how are you this fine morning?" I turned. Standing behind us was a brown dog, dressed in a waistcoat, a top hat, and dress shoes. He wore a monocle and held a gold-tipped cane. Beside him were a few suitcases.

"I am well, thank you, Arthur. Alexandra, I'd like you to meet our professor of Balance, Arthur Wethersfield. Arthur, this is Alexandra Firesong." The dog smiled warmly at me.

"Hello, Miss Firesong. Are you new here?" I nodded, my voice deserting me upon seeing my first talking dog. "Well then, welcome to Ravenwood! I hope to see you around the school sometime. Cheerio!" We kept walking. The tunnel was high, long, and dark. Most eight year old girls would be afraid of a high, long, dark tunnel. I wasn't. I felt perfectly at home in the darkness, oddly enough.

"Alexandra, welcome to the Commons." I thought that I'd seen the most beautiful place in the world when I stepped into Ravenwood. The tranquility of the ageless school was nothing compared with the area we entered next. The Commons were everything I'd heard of in my mother's stories. The soft, springy green grass, the crystal clear stream, the azure blue skies, everything was there. The place was a slightly scattered array of buildings, all in various shades of gray and red, and the beige brick paths wound around in circles, not really going to any particular place. The stream meandered lazily through the small, cheerful place, its source being a waterfall pouring from a cliff. Connecting one side of the stream to the other were various bridges, placed in random, bizarre spots. The sun smiled down warmly at me, and I felt its soothing rays penetrate my exhausted body and fill me with new energy. The best part was the people. Everywhere I turned, I saw cheerful, smiling faces. There were elderly men and women slowly walking along the paths, there were younger adults hurrying to and fro, toddlers and babies played in the grass, and teenagers dressed in odd looking robes wandered around or sat in the shade, reading from old looking books or writing in notebooks. Some held wands and were forming intricate shapes of multicolored light, and some were just chatting with their friends, relaxed, carefree, and happy. I almost felt tears forming in my eyes; I had traveled four days through perilous Dragonspyre, and here I was, walking through a safe haven. A resting place. A paradise. I listened to the conversations as we passed groups of people:

"I just got my apprentice rank yesterday!"

"I can't believe you spent all your gold on a _storm hound_!"

"Ugh, I hate fighting Undead."

"What level are you at right now?"

"You're a Sorcerer, right?" They all seemed completely oblivious to suffering. It was like they knew no pain, no sorrow, no loss. However, when I looked closely at some of the older teens and young adults, I could tell that my assumptions were wrong. Some of them held a drawn, pained look, like they'd seen too many deaths to count. Some were gaunt and pale, as though they'd been living in the dark for weeks. Others were bruised or scarred, and some even had bandages. A small group of about six stood in a corner, their backs to the wall, staring out at the passing people with a lean, hungry look. A fearful look. An almost animalistic look. These people looked perfectly content, but they knew what suffering was. They could fight, and well, by the looks of some of them, and none would hesitate to protect this haven. No place could stay so beautiful forever, not without defense.

"The Commons are a connecting point. They link all the major parts of Wizard City together. Our destination is right there." Professor Drake pointed to a large building directly across from us. There was an arch leading into a small courtyard, and several students were waiting outside the place.

"What is it?"

"That is the Headmaster's House. He will decide what shall be done about your situation." I

shivered. Something about that sentence made the Headmaster sound cold and frightening.

How wrong I was.

The students in the courtyard parted, letting the two of us through. I climbed the ramp behind Professor Drake, and he led me into a small, circular room. The walls were covered in crimson paper, with golden designs patterned onto it. The floor was tiled in black and white, but was mostly covered by an oval shaped, ruby and gold colored rug. There was a huge, glowing crystal ball on a wooden stand, and cluttered, overflowing bookshelves lined an entire wall. There were two doors besides the one we had entered. One was blocked by stacks of books. Directly across from me was a huge wood desk. It was covered with a globe, a stack of papers, an inkwell with a quill pen in it, and a pile of books. Sitting in a red cushioned chair was one of the oldest, kindest looking men I had ever seen. He was dressed in a dark blue robe and matching, pointed hat, both of which were patterned with gold stars and moons. In his hand was a tall brown staff, with a golden spiral mounted on the top. A monocle was scrunched into his right eye, and his white beard came down to his waist.

"Hello, Headmaster," Professor Drake said respectfully.

The elderly man looked up from a book. "Oh! Greetings, Malistaire. How are you today?" His voice was kind and gentle, almost grandfatherly. I could see that his eyes were a watery blue color.

"I am well, thank you. Headmaster, I found this young girl outside the Spiral Chamber. She says that her parents are either dead or missing, and she has recently traveled here."

"Oh, my! That is terrible! What is your name, my dear?" He peered at me curiously.

"Alexandra Firesong." I saw the recognition in his eyes. The Firesongs were a very old and very powerful family in Dragonspyre.

"Welcome to Wizard City, Alexandra. I can tell by your accent that you are Dragonspyrian ... how did you get through the Spiral Door without your parents?"

"Some boy helped me. I don't know his name."

"I see . . . I have one last question, my dear: how old are you?"

"Eight."

"Eight years old, and traveling through Dragonspyre alone? My goodness. Well, Alexandra, you are not old enough to join our school yet. You must be at least 11 years old. I suppose we shall have to find guardians for you."

"Hello, Headmaster!" I turned when I heard a sweet, cheerful voice sing those words. Professor Drake, too, turned towards the door. Standing in the entrance was a young woman. Golden red curls cascaded down her back, and in her hair was a crown of fresh, white daisies. Her eyes, a soft, mossy green color, were hidden behind small, round glasses with gold frames. She was smiling broadly, revealing straight, white teeth. The woman wore a long, flowing white skirt with a light green jacket over the top, and in her hand was a twig. She radiated happiness and peace, putting me at ease in seconds.

"Hello, Sylvia."

"Hello, Malistaire." The woman kissed Professor Drake on the cheek. "And who is this?" She smiled down at me.

"Sylvia, this is Alexandra Firesong of Dragonspyre. Alexandra, this is Sylvia, my wife."

"Don't forget that I'm the Theurgy professor, too!" Sylvia's laugh was like the sound of bells.

"Sylvia, do you know of a family that could care for Alexandra? She's lost her parents, and she is three years too young to join Ravenwood," the Headmaster informed her.

She tapped her chin with her wand. "Hmm . . . let me think . . . I know of a family. A Necromancer and his Theurgist wife. They have no children, but they've wished for one for a long time. Their names are . . . "

"Sylvia and Malistaire Drake, by any chance?" the Headmaster chuckled. Sylvia seemed shocked.

"Why, Headmaster Ambrose! How ever did you guess?"

"There's only one married couple that is a Necromancer and a Theurgist, and that would be the two of you." He chuckled good naturedly. "Are you sure you can look after Alexandra?"

"I'm right here," I interrupted, "so you don't have to pretend I'm not."

"My apologies, Alexandra. It's just that, the Professors Drake are very busy. Being a teacher of magic can be very time consuming."

"Of course we can handle a child." Sylvia waved her hand airily. "No problem. Right,

Malistaire?" He didn't respond, but I thought he looked pleased.

"It's settled, then. Alexandra, you will be the adopted daughter of the Drakes." I smiled uncertainly at my new guardians. While life with someone like Sylvia Drake couldn't possibly be bad, I was still scared to begin again in such a new and different place. It would take a long time for me to feel completely at home.


	4. Chapter 4: Choosing a School

_**A/N:**_ _This is the edited version of chapter four. It takes place three years after chapter three._

**Beep. Beep. Beep.** The alarm clock whined out a monotone sound. I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head, trying to blot out the obnoxious noise. Beep. Beep. Beep. I opened one eye and glared at the clock from under my pillow. Why. Wouldn't. It. Shut. Up? **BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.**

"Enough, already!" I grabbed a book from the floor and whacked the offender with it.

**BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP!**

"Come on, Alexandra! Breakfast is almost ready, and don't forget what today is!" Sylvia's cheerful voice floated through my door.

"Why is everyone such an early bird in this place?" I mumbled, tossing my blankets aside. I jabbed the "dismiss" button on my alarm clock, and it stopped chirping at me. I stuck my tongue out at it and walked over to the mirror. I picked up my brush and halfheartedly dragged it through my hair, wincing as I hit a knot. After about a minute of tearing my hair out with the brush, I deemed myself presentable and trudged out of my room, down the hallway, and into the kitchen. Sylvia was dancing while she set the table, and pancakes were cooking on the stove.

"Good morning, Alex!" I waved in response. "Hurry up and eat your breakfast! We've got to be at the Headmaster's House in half an hour!" She flipped three circular, steaming pancakes onto a plate and set them on the table. "There you go. I've got to wake Malistaire; he's just as much of a slowpoke as you!" My mother hurried down the hallway. I slowly dragged a chair backwards and plopped down in it. I stared blankly at the food for a minute, and then I pulled the maple syrup across the table and dumped some on top. I picked up my fork and stabbed the pancakes, not bothering to cut them. Sylvia appeared a moment later with Malistaire in tow, who looked just as drowsy as I was.

"Morning," I muttered, tearing at my pancakes. Malistaire nodded to me before taking his place at the table. Sylvia dished out the rest of the pancakes before taking her own seat.

"What school do you think you'll get, Alex?"

"Dunno."

"Are you excited to start school?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What about you, Malistaire? Are you ready for the new school year?"

"Of course." It went on like that for most of breakfast: Sylvia would ask or say something, we would respond in one or two word sentences. Once again, I was stuck wondering, how in the Spiral did those two fall in love? Sylvia and Malistaire were polar opposites: one was an early bird, a Theurgist, energetic, and enthusiastic. The other was a night owl to an extreme, along with being a quiet, serious, stubborn Necromancer. One loved to dance and sing, the other preferred strategy games and reading. One taught by showing, the other taught by speaking. I figured that their differences balanced out one another. They fit together, like two puzzle pieces.

"Are you done, Alex? I'll help you get ready." Sylvia stood, and I followed her slowly.

"Why does school have to start at 8:00 in the morning?" I grumbled.

"We like to use the whole day. School starts at eight, and it ends at three. You go home, do your homework if you have any, and still have time for recreation. You'll get used to it after a while."

"Okay."

"Here. Get dressed." She set a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt on my bed.

"Thanks." She left, and I slowly dressed. I brushed my hair again, just to please Sylvia, and I pulled it back into a low ponytail. I stared at myself in the mirror again. I looked so different from when I was eight. I didn't look as young. I didn't look as angry. And I didn't look as evil.

"Alex, come on! We're going to be late!" I was startled out of my thoughts by the voice.

"Should I bring my aunt's wand?"

"No; you have to use the Novice wand you're given until you reach Apprentice rank."

"Okay." I glanced once at the wand and ran out the door. Sylvia and Malistaire were waiting for me.

"Hurry up! We're going to teleport to the Commons, but then we've got to walk to the Headmaster's House!" Malistaire took my hand, and a cloud of skulls appeared around us. When they were gone, we stood in the Commons. The sight was just as breathtaking as the first time. It hadn't changed a bit. Everyone was just as happy, just as cheerful, just as welcoming.

"I'll see you two later! I've got to go set up for class!" Sylvia waved, grinned happily, and hurried off towards Ravenwood.

"Come with me. If we hurry, we won't get caught in the line of other soon-to-be Novices," Malistaire said, striding towards the Headmaster's House. I smiled slightly. Malistaire would never change; he'd always seemed emotionless, and he always would. I knew that beneath the calm and composed mask, he cared.

"Hurry, Alex!" I ran to catch up with him.

We had timed everything perfectly; we were the second ones in the line. Ahead of me was a relaxed boy dressed all in orange and red. A moment later, we were joined by a nervous looking girl dressed in worn and dusty clothing. She was alone and seemed scared, so I gave her what I hoped was a friendly smile.

The door opened, and a displeased looking girl stormed out. She was wearing all green, carried a twig, and had dark green hair cut short. Her jade green eyes were flashing with anger, and I could tell by the look she gave me that she didn't think highly of me, or anyone else, for that matter. She was joined by a slightly older boy wearing yellow and dark blue robes. They held a brief, heated conversation (at least, heated on the girl's side of things) and then hurried away.

"Mom's gonna have fun teaching her," I whispered to Malistaire. A smile played at the corner of his lips.

"Sylvia can gentle any student, no matter how difficult," he replied softly. I giggled.

"The next child may enter," a voice called from inside the house. An owl flew out and perched on the fence. He waved a wing towards the boy, who strolled calmly up to the door and entered. About three minutes later, he returned, wearing red robes and carrying a gold wand. He grinned at me and nodded to Malistaire before heading towards Ravenwood. Based on the colors, I could tell that he was a Pyromancer. I had studied each school intently for the entire summer, to the point where Sylvia was yelling at me to go outside and play. I knew the teachers, colors and Founders of each school by heart, I could name their formation in Ravenwood, I even knew the names of their first spells. Feeling slightly nervous (okay, _really _nervous) I strode to the door, climbed the steps, and pushed open the door to Headmaster Ambrose's house. Inside, there was a small desk and a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk, and Ambrose himself sat at the large desk.

"Hello. Alexandra, isn't it?"

"Yes, but you can call me Alex."

"Hmm . . . daughter of Malistaire and Sylvia, correct?" He peered at me over the top of his

desk.

"Adopted daughter, actually," I corrected.

"Do have a seat, Alex." I silently sat down in the chair, feeling shrunken under the careful scrutiny of the Headmaster's gaze. He smiled kindly at me. "Do you know how to write and read?" I nodded. "Excellent. I am going to give you a little test, then. Just answer each question truthfully, no bias, please, and it will reveal your school once I order it to. There's no rush; take as long as you need." I could read his expression. He thought that I couldn't read very well. He was about to be surprised; Dragonspyrian pre-magic schools had a large emphasis on reading and writing. When the sheet of paper and pencil appeared on the desk in front of me, I stared at the first question: "What is your favorite creature?" I thought for a minute, picked up the pencil, and wrote, "Wraith." Question two was, "What is the most powerful force in the Spiral?" This one was multiple choice. I scanned the answers and chose "Plague." For number three, I chose nighttime as my favorite part of the day, winter as my favorite season, and reading as my favorite pre-magic school subject. The questions and their answers disappeared, leaving a few sentences: "Congratulations, Alexandra Firesong. You are a Novice Necromancer, a student of the school of Death." I looked up and stared at Headmaster Ambrose. His smile widened.

"Death?"

"It is your destiny, child. Your soul is that of a Necromancer's. You do not fear death or darkness, do you?"

"No, not at all. If anything, I hate death. It took my mother from me, and later, my father. It stole my home, my life, my happiness. Everything I had, gone in the blink of an eye."

"Well, there you go, then! As a Necromancer, you will use death to fight death. You will be willing to go where others dare not, and to battle creatures that most wouldn't even consider facing."

"Aren't you . . . I don't know, disappointed? I thought Death was a bad school to be in!"

"No, of course not! Death may be avoided by most, but in truth, Death is one of the hardest to master. Many students don't even make it to level 20 before dropping out. They're too afraid of the work they have to do. It is hard, dangerous, and well respected work, Alex. Here, you'll need your Novice robes and wand; you'll receive your notebook and spell deck in your first class." He tapped me on the head with his staff, and when I looked down, my jeans and t-shirt had become black robes with scarlet lining. On my feet, instead of sneakers, were a pair of soft, black fabric boots, and when I reached up, I felt a pointed, wide brimmed hat on my head. It was black, too. Ambrose handed me a black, unicorn horn-shaped wand that was about as long as my arm. I took the wand, and I smiled uncertainly at him.

"You're sure?" He nodded.

"I am certain. Death is your school, Alex. If there was another school you were hoping for, you may choose that as your secondary school, and if you ever get enough time, you may even choose a third."

"Okay. So, I should go find my dad, right?"

"Yes. Good luck in your studies, Alex. Come see me sometime; I love visits from all my students." I stood, nodded to the Headmaster, and tried to walk slowly to the door. I could barely contain myself as I opened the door, and once I was out of the house, I flew down the stairs and over to Malistaire.

"Dad! I'm a Necromancer like you!" I watched his face for a sign of emotion. Anything at all would make me happy. For one scary moment, he kept frowning, and I thought he was angry with me. Then, a second later, his face brightened into a huge smile, one that looked oddly out of place on his face. He pulled me closer and hugged me.

"This is excellent news, Alex! Come, we have just enough time to tell Sylvia before we go to class. I'm sure you won't need a tour." For the first time in years, I laughed, a pure, joyful sound that came with my elation. I hadn't been so happy in an eternity. Malistaire took my hand and lead me towards Ravenwood.

The school of magic was just as beautiful as the last time I had seen it in person. Non-wizards weren't permitted in Ravenwood, so I hadn't been in the place since I was eight. The sight stole my breath, and the smile on my face got so wide, I thought my jawbone would break clean in half. Malistaire led me to the right, towards a huge stone building. It looked similar to the School of Ice, but with a brown border around the top and a green leaf pattern. The stones were more weathered and rounded, more earthy looking, and the roof looked like it was made of green tiles-at least, until I looked closer, when I realized that the roof was made of grass. The windows were stained glass with images of Bartleby, the Great Tree, and on the door was a leaf image: the symbol of Life. Beside the school was a tree with light brown bark and pink blossoms instead of leaves. I waved.

"Hello, my dear! New to Ravenwood, are you?" The tree's voice was sweet and motherly. I wasn't surprised when she spoke; I'd read all about the talking trees of Ravenwood, of which Bartleby was the most famous.

"Hi, Blossom! Yes, I'm new here. I'm a Necromancer."

"A Necromancer! That's . . . lovely, dear. Lovely." I heard her voice falter as she said

"lovely." I knew that she was scared of the school of Death. After all, she was the Life Tree.

"See you later, Blossom!" I waved as I walked towards the Life School door. Malistaire pushed it open and led me inside. I gasped, looking around. The walls were green brick, and in every crack, there was a nail, from which pots of flowers hung. The floor was carpeted in soft grass, and I realized that there was no floor at all. The ceiling was made of woven branches and grass, giving the place an earthy smell. I loved it. At the opposite end of the room, there was a large professor desk, and sitting behind it was Sylvia.

"Sylvia, guess which school Alex got?" Malistaire called, pushing me behind him.

"Oh, she's out already? Which one?" The professor's tone was excited and cheerful, as usual.

"I'm a Necromancer," I exclaimed, jumping out from behind my father. Sylvia clapped.

"Oh, congratulations, Alex! Nice job! You'll love Death magic; if your father teaches it, it will be excellent, I promise." She smiled brightly at me. I grinned back. I noticed the girl from earlier sitting in the front. She had tossed her hat on her desk, and had propped her elbow up on the desk. Her head was resting in her hand, her jade colored eyes were half closed, and she was tapping her twig on the edge of the desk: the very picture of boredom. She noticed me staring and jerked herself to attention, glaring furiously at me.

"What do you want, _Necromancer_?" she snapped, her eyes flashing as before.

"Absolutely nothing, besides to speak with my mother," I replied icily, immediately defensive.

"Sabrina, there's no need to be rude, and Alex, you didn't have to snap," Sylvia said sharply.

"Sorry, Necromancer," the Theurgist said haughtily.

"The same to you, Theurgist."

"We'll be going now, Sylvia. We can't be late for class." Malistaire took me by the hand and dragged me out of the school. I started to protest, but he shook his head.

When we were safely out of the Life School, I spoke. "Why did Mom act like that? She's _never _used that tone before!"

"She can't have her students thinking that she plays favorites," he replied simply. I kept my mouth shut and followed him down the path. Malistaire had chosen to take me the long way to the Death School; we were passing the schools of Storm, Ice, and Fire first, rather than just going past Myth. I had no problem with that; I didn't feel like seeing my snooty Uncle Cyrus, anyways. As hurried past the Fire School, a man stepped out of the building, hands behind his back. He seemed to be looking for someone, perhaps watching for new students. I slowed down for a second, studying him carefully. The man was dressed in a long, bright orange robe, on his feet were a pair of red shoes, and he wore a red hood. I could see messy black hair sticking out from under his hood, and his eyes were grey-blue. I could have _sworn _I'd seen him before . . .

"Hello, Malistaire," he said coolly. His voice was tainted by a thick Dragonspyrian accent. I figured I had seen him around the Forum, or perhaps the library, when I still lived there.

"Hello, Patrick." Malistaire's voice was even colder than the other man's. I could tell that neither man thought highly of the other. Wait a second . . ._Patrick?!_ He was _not_ just some man I had seen on the streets. I knew him far better. Patrick glanced at me, and then he stared for longer. He seemed unable to form words for a moment, like a fish out of water. When he finally managed to speak, he said one word:

"Alexandra?"


	5. Chapter 5: Hatred

_**A/N:**_ _Edited chapter five is here! It may not be as long as the other chapters are, but I'll do my best._

Patrick. The professor of the Fire School. Mr. Firesong. _Dad._ They were all names that he had been called at some point in his lifetime. He was the one that had disappeared from my home three years ago. He was the one that had left me to raise myself. He had ignored me for most of my eight-year-old year, only bothering with me when I was going to say or do something that would ruin his reputation. Patrick Firesong had always seemed to care about his reputation more than me, but after my mother's death, it seemed to get worse. He had viewed me only as a tool, something to be used to boost his reputation. He hadn't cared about me at all. I stared at him in shock, feeling several emotions pummel my brain: sadness, confusion ... mostly anger. Pure, cold fury. That "job offer somewhere else in Dragonspyre" had been a position as the Ravenwood Professor of Fire. Provided a home too small to share? That would be the tower across the street, the tower that could easily house six people. Comfortably. As I'd thought, he would never have come back; by the time I turned 11, he would have forgotten all about me.

"Alexandra, you're here! Malistaire Drake, what have you been doing with my daughter?" His voice became angry in a matter of seconds. "Defending" me, as always.

"I beg your pardon? Alex, do you know Professor Flameharp?"

I nodded slowly, my eyes narrowing in anger. "Yes. I do- at least, I knew him when he was still Patrick _Firesong_. As I told Headmaster Ambrose when he first met me, I came from Dragonspyre. I lived in the Forum for eight years. When I was just barely seven, an asteroid shower struck our area, and our house was destroyed. My mother, Alyssa . . . she was crushed." My voice faltered a bit as I spoke of my mother, and I saw my father cringe slightly.

"Alexandra, please, now's not the best time-"

"There's never a 'best time' with you. You _never_ had time for me, not after she died. I'm telling Malistaire now, whether you like it or not," I snapped fiercely. "A little over a year after the asteroid shower, I came home from pre-magic school and he was gone. There was a letter on his desk with my name on it; I still remember what it said."

"Alexandra! Stop, _right _now!"

"Never! It was from _him_, Malistaire. He said that he'd gotten a job in another part of Dragonspyre, and the house it provided was too small to share. He said that he wouldn't be back for me, and I should try and survive on my own. He told me to go to the orphanage if I couldn't sustain myself, and that when I was 11, I should come here. That man is my father- at least, he _was_, once upon a time."

Malistaire stared at me in shock for a minute, trying to determine whether I was making it up or not. When he realized that I was telling the truth, his eyes narrowed. His face darkened, and he turned to glare at my father. "Patrick Firesong, you are more heartless than any Necromancer you dare to judge! How _dare _you leave an eight year old girl in Dragonspyre, _all alone_, to try and survive? That world is so dangerous that only _Grandmasters_ are permitted to enter!" I had seen Malistaire angry, but never _this_ angry. He looked like a living storm cloud, one of the angriest storm clouds in the world. I stared at him in shock and fear.

My father drew himself up to his full height, trying to seem threatening. It didn't work; his five feet, six inches were still dwarfed by Malistaire's six feet, four inches. "Who are you to tell me what to do with my own daughter?" he roared, standing on his tiptoes to get into Malistaire's face.

The Death Professor moved him aside with his staff, glaring daggers at Patrick. "I have not told you to do anything, but I suggest you not treat Alex like a tool. She will become a very powerful Necromancer someday, and she could very well decide to get revenge for your actions."

"Necro-you're a liar, Drake! My daughter knows better than to enter the school of Death. She is to be a Theurgist, like I told her to. And now, you are here to join Fire as your secondary school, are you not, Alexandra?" He looked at me expectantly, and then did a double take when he noticed my robes and wand. "Alexandra, why are you dressed in black, and why do you have a Wand of . . . Regurgitation, or whatever it's called?"

"I'm pretty sure it's called a Wand of _Repose_, and that is because I am a Necromancer. Ask the Headmaster if you don't believe me; I've been destined to be a Death wizard since the day I was born." He opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. "I'm not finished! Look at me, _Dad_. I have black hair and silver eyes. I'm almost always able to hide my emotions using coldness. I'm not scared of the dark, or even of Undead. I love the nighttime. I stay up late and get up late. My favorite creature is a _wraith_. I love the color black, and everything's scared of me! Even the trees are scared of me! I'm not a Theurgist! I would fail Theurgy in five seconds! Plants hate me, Theurgists hate me, and I don't like sunshine, which they need! Stop trying to order my destiny, just because it will make your _reputation _better! I promise you, _Patrick Firesong_, I will never enter the School of Life again, and I won't so much as _look _at the school of Fire! Death is my school- it's where I belong, and nothing can change that. If you'd look at me as your daughter, rather than something you can use to help yourself, I'd almost think you could be proud of me for my choices, but you're just a horrible, selfish man, no better than the Undead!_Ihateyou!_" As I screamed those three fatal words, I saw something change in his eyes.

He glared at me, the same glare he had used on Malistaire. "You've disgraced the name of Firesong!"

"Do you think I care about that now?" I hissed, glaring boldly back at him. "Do you think I care about my heritage? That name's never done a thing for me. It's a name, nothing more." I turned away and strode towards the Death School.

"Come back here! You'll live to regret this!" Slowly, I turned to face him, standing on the steps of the school.

"No. I won't. This is my home now, _Professor Flameharp,_ and Malistaire Drake is my father. Have a nice life." I pushed open the door and entered the Necromancy School.


	6. Chapter 6: Novice Necromancy

_**A/N:**_ _I have nothing to say, besides to enjoy revised chapter six!_

Even my fury at the thought of my father couldn't detract from the beauty of my school. It was dark, chilly, somewhat clammy, painted mostly black, and there were ghosts floating about. I loved it. In the front, a hunchback dressed in a black cloak was holding a lantern and writing on a chalkboard. There was a stack of battered, worn old books on a large desk, along with a black quill pen in a bone ink jar. When I looked closely enough, I could see that the ink was reddish. Black satin banners hung on the walls, and there were a pair of crossed obsidian swords beneath a black shield. I approached the shield and read a small silver plaque that hung beneath it:

_The swords and shield of Morticus Lifebane, Death Relic Warrior of Ravenwood years 1400-1698._

"Wow," I breathed. "These are ancient."

"Indeed. Morticus was one of the most renowned of all the Death Warriors; he may even have been the best of all the Relic Warriors." I turned. Malistaire stood behind me.

"Why aren't there Relic Warriors now?" I had never heard of a Relic Warrior before, and no one I knew had ever spoken of them, which led me to believe that there were none. Besides, the shield was so _old _...

"Oh, there are- a great many, in fact. Each one carries a special artifact that prolongs life and magnifies their magical powers. Most do not travel frequently to Wizard City, however- the last time a Relic Warrior came here was when I was an Initiate. Her name was Martha Briskbreeze, and she was nearly 12 hundred years old at the time."

"Whoa! Really? She was ancient!"

"She still is, to the extent of my knowledge, among the living. Didn't look a day over 30, either; the Ice Relic is one of the very few that gives immortality."

"Can you tell me more about her sometime?" I was curious; the Relic Warriors were something I'd have to research next time I was in the library.

"Later," Malistaire said, glancing at a clock on the wall. The hands were made of finger bones. "Class will be starting soon. Choose a seat." As I sat down near the shield and swords, I decided that Ice would be my secondary school. Martha Briskbreeze sounded amazing; I'd have to learn more about her.

I wasn't waiting long for something exciting. Barely a few seconds after I'd sat down, students began entering and taking their seats. Most of the students wore black and white, but there were also some dressed in the colors of other schools. I left my bag on the desk and silently approached Malistaire's desk.

"How come there are other schools here?" I asked.

"Generally, the Secondary students are mixed in for the first few years of your time here in an attempt to build friendships between students of different Schools. There are quite a few Necromancers in this class, it seems, although a good percent of your year have been split into the other two classes."

"How many Necromancers are there in my grade?"

"Around 70, I believe."

"Wow. That's a lot."

"It is- this is a good year for the School of Death. You should take a seat; I'm starting soon." I nodded and slid back into my seat. Moments later, when students had stopped entering the classroom, Malistaire stepped forwards and stared down at the students.

"You have joined the school of Death, either as your first or second school. This pathway of magic is the darkest of the seven. You will learn to steal health from your opponents, you will learn not to fear darkness, and most dangerously, you will learn to summon the Undead. This is a very powerful field of magic, and the most dangerous of them all. This is your last chance to walk away from Death." He paused, watching the students carefully. I held my breath, wondering if anyone would take the chance.

One student near the back, a frightened looking girl in light blue and white, stood up shakily. She hesitantly took a few steps backwards, and then she turned and ran towards the door. No one else moved as she fled.

Malistaire waited another minute, and when no one else moved, he raised his left hand into the air and snapped his fingers. The door slammed shut with a bang.

"The rest of you have elected to stay, and stay you shall. No one in this room will quit now, no matter how frightened they become. If you do not work hard in my class, there will be a penalty, I assure you. I do not speak of a low report card grade." He fixed the class with such a dark stare that even the boldest shivered. "For this class you will need several materials, which you must have in class in two days. You will need a notebook, a writing utensil, a folder and safety gloves. We will be handling dangerous creatures and materials later on in the year."

A boy dressed in purple and gold raised his hand. Malistaire nodded to him. "What dangerous stuff? My parents might not let me touch it if it's dangerous…"

"Your parents do not have a choice in the matter. All parents are told by the Headmaster that they may not interfere with their children's schooling once they enter Ravenwood. If it will calm you to know, we will be raising black widow spiders towards the end of your Novice year, and we will be using the scales of an Ianthine Spectre, venom of a rattlesnake, and other equally poisonous substances in our potion-making unit, which will be in April. Are there any more questions?"

A few more were asked, and then Malistaire began the lesson. "Your first task is to learn the Dark Sprite spell. I will give each of you a card to study, and I will expect you to cast it properly tomorrow in class. Failing to do so will result in an afternoon practice session in my tower." He tapped his staff on the floor, and a small black card appeared on my desk. I picked it up and studied it.

"How do we cast a spell?" one Conjurer asked.

"First, you will need your wand." Most of the students scrambled to grab their wands from their bags. Mine was already sitting on my desk. "Necromancy draws its power from focus and emptiness. All emotions make Death magic difficult, but arrogance is especially dangerous. Be sure to clear your minds. Now, concentrate on your inner magic powers and hold the card in one hand, your wand in the other. Start drawing this symbol in the air." He drew a skull shape on the chalkboard. "Most of you should be able to at least manage that."

I did as he asked, concentrating hard on drawing the shape he'd demonstrated. To my surprise, a dark gray light flooded from my wand, leaving the skull shape hanging in the air. Looking around, I saw that all of the Novice Necromancers had also succeeded, but some of the students from other schools, especially Life, were struggling.

"If you have succeeded, you may try casting the Dark Sprite. Touch the card with the tip of your wand, and if you manage to cast the spell, the card will disappear. Try it." Carefully, so not to disturb the skull, I touched the card, and it glowed in my hand. With a flash, it disappeared, and from the gray skull sprang a tiny person with wings. She grinned impishly at me before flitting up to the ceiling. I grinned. My first Death spell.


	7. Chapter 7: Beginning Thaumaturgy

_**A/N: **__We meet the first O.C. in this chapter, along with another main character belonging to mwah. xD Enjoy the revised chapter seven! :)_

I had never been so excited in my life. I'd cast my first death spell, and Malistaire had given me three Dark Sprite cards to use in duels, along with a small card box to keep them in. The box was painted black with the Death School's symbol, a white skull, on the top. My name was printed in silver on the bottom. Towards the end of class, Malistaire had passed out our official schedules so we'd know when our free periods were, and then he wrote the times of the other Novice classes on the chalkboard. The other Necromancers and I had to choose our secondary Schools from that list. Unfortunately for me, the only available Novice Thaumaturgy class was directly after Necromancy- I'd have to hurry in order to make it there on time.

"That is all for today. I expect every one of you to be here tomorrow morning. If you aren't here, I expect a valid excuse from your parents or guardian. Tardiness will not be accepted; if you are not in this building by the time the bell sounds, the doors will be locked, and you will have no choice but to sit outside for the remainder of the period. You are dismissed." With a wave of his hand, the door swung open. Some of the students, mainly the Theurgists, scrambled to be the first ones out. I wished that I could stay longer, but I only had time to wave to Dworgyn and Malistaire as I ran outside.

I took care not to look at the Fire School on my way past, looking a bit farther to the school of Ice. It was just as I remembered it from my first day in Ravenwood. As I neared it, I could see that a thin layer of ice coated the light gray stones, which were arrayed in a somewhat scattered pattern. Something cold landed on my nose, and I recoiled in shock. Hesitantly, I looked up. A thick white cloud hovered over the Ice School, and from it fell a gentle shower of snow. I scowled at it; while I knew what snow was, I rarely experienced it, and besides- it fell from the sky. Things falling from the sky wasn't natural, and therefore snow could not be trusted. (Not that fiery rocks of doom were any better, but they didn't attempt to disguise themselves as something sweet and innocent the way snow did.)

"What's the matter? Never seen snow before?" I turned. Behind me stood the girl that had fled from the Death School. The first thing I noticed about her was that her white robes were spotless- a feat that I would personally consider impossible- and the second was that her fluffy pigtails were the brightest shade of cobalt blue I had ever seen.

"I've seen it before, but not often." I shot the precipitation another wary glance. "I'm sorry, but your hair-"

"Before you ask, it's natural," the girl interrupted with a wry grin and a roll of her eyes, which were hidden behind a pair of large blue glasses. She tugged on one of the long pigtails. "It runs in my family- there's something to do with genetics and recessive traits … you probably don't care about all that, though. Sorry. What's your name?"

"Alexandra Firesong."

"I'm Erica Bluestone. It's nice to meet you." The left side of her mouth turned up in an awkward half-smile, and she stuck her hand out for me to shake.

"Same to you. Hey, weren't you the girl that ran out of the Death School?" She blushed to the roots of her blue hair.

"Um … well… gosh, stuff spreads really fast here, doesn't it?"

I shook my head. "I was there. See my robe colors?"

"Oh … right." She blushed even more. "Well, um, we should probably get inside; Professor Greyrose will be mad if we're late." She rushed past me into the Ice School. I shrugged and followed her inside.

Professor Greyrose was a tiny woman, barely six inches high, with a pair of silvery wings protruding from her back. She wore neat, light blue robes with a handful of snowflakes scattered across them, and her hat was tall and pointed.

"Hello, class!" She sang, her voice musical and high pitched. "I am Professor Lydia Greyrose, your Thaumaturgy professor! Welcome to the School of Ice! Today, we will be learning how to cast a frost beetle! Please take out your wands, and I will pass out practice cards." She waved her wand, and a light blue card hovered in front of each of us. I took mine and stared at it while Professor Greyrose drew a symbol on the board. "Now, class, this is the Thaumaturgy magic symbol! You will need to draw this each time you cast an Ice spell- it is the power that will activate your spell card. Can anyone tell me what you must draw on in order to cast Ice magic?"

A boy dressed in light brown raised his hand tentatively. "Pips?" he asked.

"Correct, but not all the way correct. All magic requires pips, but each School of magic draws off of one specific thing! Anyone else?"

Erica's hand shot up. "Ice magic draws from any long lasting feelings. Grudges and hatred will work, but drawing from old friendships and love increases accuracy by about half a percent."

"Excellent work, Miss Bluestone! Perhaps you would care to attempt the magic symbol first?"

"O-okay …" Erica hesitantly raised her wand. She touched a large locket that hung from her neck, as if it would reassure her, and then she began to draw. Almost instantly, a ribbon of blue light slid from the end of her wand, and soon the Ice symbol hung in the air before the Thaumaturge.

"That's wonderful! Simply lovely!" Professor Greyrose gushed, applauding happily. "Alright, class! It's time for the rest of you to give it a try!"

Some of the wizards did well, particularly the Thaumaturges- although none of their symbols reached the same brightness and clarity as Ericas- while others didn't do so well. I was struggling hard; unlike with Necromancy, I couldn't get a light to come out at all. Rather, I ended up with a bluish smoke, which lasted about two seconds before disappearing. Most of the Pyromancers were worse off, though. They couldn't even get the blue smoke.

By the end of class, I'd managed to produce a thin line of weak blue light. I wasn't pleased with my work, but I had no time to keep practicing; the professor shooed us all out the door as soon as the bell sounded, although I felt her tiny hand on my shoulder as I was leaving.

"Miss Firesong, correct?"

"Yeah," I grumbled.

"Mmm." She gave me a sympathetic, almost pitying smile. "Ice will be more difficult for you than some, my dear. I know enough about Dragonspyre to have heard of the Firesong family- you have a very long and very noble line of Pyromancy blood, and that will cause trouble for you here. I won't encourage you to change Secondary Schools- I believe that your determination so far is admirable- but do not be too disappointed if you struggle here. Now, you live with the Drakes, yes?" I nodded. "I doubt your father will mind if you pop on over to his class to wait for your lunch period. Go on ahead- I'll see you tomorrow, dear!"

I waved goodbye and then headed towards the Death School. I waited on the steps for a minute, worried about going in, but when the bell rang, I gathered my courage and stepped inside.

Immediately, 15 pairs of lamp like eyes turned my way. 15 pale, gaunt faces stared at me from under dark hoods or wide-brimmed hats.

"Alex, what are you doing here?" Malistaire asked, sounding more curious than angry.

"Professor Greyrose said to come here since I don't have a dorm room," I replied, staring nervously at the 15 Necromancers.

"I see. Well, class, this is my daughter, Alexandra Firesong." There was a chorus of soft hello's. "Alex, you may stay if you are quiet, and you're not in the way. We're learning a very difficult spell today." I nodded in agreement, searching the room for somewhere to sit. A girl in a very fancy black dress, hood, and high heeled boots waved me over, smiling warmly. I slid into the desk next to her quietly, grinning back.

"I'm Marcia Darkwind," she whispered as Malistaire began to speak.

"Nice to meet you," I replied.

The class, which I later found out was Adept Necromancers, was learning the Skeletal Pirate spell. I watched in awe as one by one, the older Necromancers got up, went to the front of the room, and tried casting the spell. Marcia was one of the few that managed to cast it.

I followed Malistaire to the Life School after the Adept class was over; he had the period free, as did Sylvia, and so the three of us were going to return home for lunch. Outside of the Life School, Sylvia was talking to a dark-skinned girl dressed all in green. My adoptive mother waved as we approached.

"Malistaire, can I talk to you for a minute before we head home?" She asked. He nodded, and the two of them stepped closer to Blossom, speaking in tones I couldn't hear. I eyed the girl skeptically. She was blushing and staring at her light green boots.

"Um … hi, I'm Alexandra," I said slowly.

"Destiny Greenblossom," she whispered, her gaze not leaving the ground.

"So, you're a Theurgist?" She nodded. "That's pretty cool. I'm a Necromancer … but … um … that's kinda obvious …" A faint smile appeared on her lips, and she glanced up at me. "Are you a novice?"

"Yes. I'm almost an apprentice, though," she said, a bit louder than before. "I took a few summer classes to get a head start."

"Oh. Awesome. I just started today… but then, you probably knew that, too, since it's the first official day."

Destiny giggled. "Yeah, I figured that much out."

"Alex, are you ready to go?" Sylvia called.

"Yes, coming! I guess I'll see you later?"

"I think so. If you ever hang out in the Commons, that's where I like to sit and read."

"I'll see you there at some point, then. Bye!" I waved to her as I ran to catch up with my adoptive parents.


	8. Chapter 8: Later On

_**A/N: **__More O.C.s in this chapter. Enjoy the revised chapter eight! :)_

_**Disclaimer: **__My O.C.'s (Alex, Sabrina, Heather, Brooke, Donna and Erica) belong to me. Evan _

_belongs to Lord Energy, Destiny belongs to XemnasisMANSEX0-0, and Ashley belongs to Flo. The idea and plot also belong to mwah, but ze game belongs to KingsIsle._

A month of classes went by. It took me most of that week to learn the Frost Beetle spell, but I just kept getting better at the Dark Sprite. I learned death trap on my fourth day of Necromancy. I'd met several other novices that week.

Sabrina Jadeleaf was the snobby Theurgist I had met my first day, and I (unfortunately) had frequent run-ins with her outside of classes. I disliked her immensely, and she hated me just as much. As we learned more spells and how to duel in the Dueling Arena, our hatred of one another turned more into rivalry- we could pound away at one another legally, and we had plenty of chances to attempt to outshine each other (for the record, I'm pretty sure I won at least one more duel than she did.)

Destiny Greenblossom became my first real friend. I had never been a social person in Dragonspyre, and I found it ironic that my first friend was a Theurgist. The two of us met in the Commons every day after class, and we would practice our spells, discuss class and new books we'd been reading (It turned out that we both had an interest in reading) and other things. I heard quite a bit about Ceren Nightchant, a journeyman Theurgist that Destiny had a _huge _crush on. I was her confidante on such things.

Heather Rosegem managed to top Destiny in the shyness category. She was a Conjurer, but

nothing like any of the Conjurers I knew. Most of them were snobby and self-absorbed, viewing all the other schools as "inferior," but not Heather. She was quiet, and when she was nervous (which was often) she stuttered- apparently, it was caused by some sort of accident that damaged her brain. I knew little about her, but I'd heard from others that she lived on Cyclops Lane with her sister, trying to keep the broken family together. People said that her parents had been killed a few years ago. I felt sorry for her after hearing that story, and so I tried to be nice to her, something that was much easier than I would have expected; despite being one of my least talkative friends, Heather was the kindest and most caring

Brooke Swiftriver, a Diviner, and Donna Dragonflame, a Pyromancer, were such good friends that they were never seen apart. The withdrawn, almost irritable Diviner and the energetic, excitable, immature Pyromancer were exact opposites, and yet they got along fabulously. Brooke's fear of fire was well known; a fire in her house years ago was the reason for an enormous, disfiguring burn over her left eye. Donna's right leg had been crippled by fire, leaving her with a permanent limp, and yet she still loved fire. It didn't make much sense to me, but I thought it was nice that she'd gotten over any fear she might have had.

Evan Starblade was a Pyromancer, and was also from Dragonspyre. Having not left until that year, his accent was much more noticeable, and I found it interesting (in a good way) to have a friend who spoke my first language, who I could talk to about our home world and have him understand. We'd met in Necromancy, since he had transferred in on the second day, and the two of us were quickly becoming good friends.

Erica Bluestone, the Thaumaturge I'd met day one, wasn't someone I saw very often. She was usually lost in a book, studying Thaumaturgy and Sorcery, her secondary school. She shared my love of reading and of knowledge, but she'd taken it a step further, and was determined to be a Grandmaster by the time she was 15, the youngest Ice Grandmaster in history. Thankfully, she was a genius in Ice, and she could help me with my homework when I was struggling (which was often).

They were all great people to hang out with. We became something of a clique. We were usually seen together. We hung out in the Commons, window-shopped in the Shopping District, played with newly hatched pets in the Pet Pavilion, played tricks on people, and studied in the library. I was in an ongoing good mood, the best I'd ever been in.

After a few months of classes, I became an apprentice. It was exciting; I had more freedom with what I wore for class, and I was allowed to enter Unicorn Way, the smallest street in Wizard City. The place was bright and flowery, and at the end, in the Hedge Maze, lived Lady Oriel the seraph. She was so cheerful it was almost annoying, but very helpful when it came to learning about the Relic Warriors. She'd apparently been a pet once, a pet to a Warrior of Life, and when the Warrior had retired, Lady Oriel had been released from pethood and become a full-fledged seraph. I was shocked to hear that she was over 800 years old.

My favorite part of Unicorn Way was the Undead. I knew that it sounded somewhat demented every time I told someone, but it was true. There were ghosts there, and pirates and dark fairies. Finally, some worthy opponents. I proved to be very helpful to the guards, clearing out several of the Undead every time I entered the street.

More time passed. During my third year at Ravenwood, I became a Journeyman Necromancer- the minimum rank for Spiral Door travel to Krokotopia. My friends and I didn't particularly like the place, as it was steaming hot and sandy, but the Manders were extremely nice, and the kroks posed a hard challenge to defeat in battle.

One day, as my six friends and I were exploring the Pyramid of the Sun, we ran into a blond haired girl about two years older than us. She was dueling two mummies single-handedly.

"Hey! Do you need any help?" Evan called.

"Nah, I got it," she replied, maybe a bit louder than necessary. She twirled her tall, dark blue staff, and the crystal on the top flashed blue as she cast an ice spell. Erica stared in shock and envy as a monstrous blue snake hauled itself out of the ground and breathed shards of ice and snow at one of the kroks.

"That's Ice Wyvern. I think it's the first Magus Ice spell," she said to me.

"It's the first Adept spell, actually. Name's Ashley Spellsword. What's yours?" the Thaumaturge called, selecting a storm trap and casting it on the remaining krok.

"I'm Evan Starblade, and these are my friends: Erica Bluestone, Donna Dragonflame, Brooke Swiftriver, Heather Rosegem, Alexandra Firesong and Destiny Greenblossom."

"Nice to meetcha," she replied, grinning widely at us before turning to select a card to play. I could just barely see the gold border of the treasure card as she began to draw a Storm symbol. Her three pips vanished.

Brooke nodded as she shifted slightly away from the group- something she did frequently. "Tempest," the Diviner stated. After watching the waves within the dueling circle for a moment, she turned away in disinterest to shuffle through her notebook pages.

"You look kinda like Journeymen- are you Journeymen?" We told her that we were. "Sweet. I just hit Adept last week- I'm a little slow compared to the rest of my grade." She shrugged and pursed her lips in what appeared to be a nonchalant manner- or it would, if I hadn't already noticed the genuine worry in her eyes.

"I know what you mean," Erica said with a sympathetic little grin. We all stared at her, and the owlish Thaumaturge blinked a few times. "What? I was kinda bad at pre-magic school, okay? It wasn't pretty." She made a face.

"Well, anyways," Ashley began as she stepped out of the dueling circle, "...it's been nice meeting you guys! I'll catch you later, unless you feel like tagging along." She pushed out her hip and rested her wand-free hand there.

I glanced towards the others to see what they thought. Most didn't appear to have a problem, and so I nodded. "If that's okay, anyways … we're all pretty new to Krokotopia, and knowing someone who knows it a little better might be helpful."

Ashley smiled. "Not a problem with me at all! I'll enjoy the company. Follow me, gang! I'll show you all around the Pyramid."


	9. Chapter 9: Year 17

_**A/N:**_ _This is the edited version of chapter nine._

_**Disclaimer: **__I own what I specified in the last chapter, and the O.C.'s belong to their _

_owners. The new O.C., Tristan, belongs to tac1060._

_**FOUR YEARS LATER**_

I barely heard my friends approaching; I was lost in thought, thinking about the book I had just finished. It was a horror book about the Scarecrow, the creator of Death magic. The author was one of my old friends, Marcia Duskwind. She'd left Ravenwood when she was 16 to pursue a career as an author, but we still remained in touch. I was one of the first people to read the new horror novel, which she'd entitled _Dark Thoughts_. I was already planning out the letter I would send to her about the fantastic and mesmerizing book.

"Hey, Alex!" Donna caught up to me and tapped my shoulder. Brooke wasn't far behind.

"Hey, Donna. Hello, Brooke," I replied, grinning.

"Whatcha reading?" The bubbly Pyromancer asked, tilting her head sideways to read the title.

"_Dark Thoughts_? That sounds scary. Who's it by? Is it good? What's it about?" Brooke clapped a hand over Donna's mouth, and I laughed before answering her string of questions.

"Yeah, it's pretty scary. It's a horror novel about the Scarecrow, written by Marcia Darkwind. It's one of the best books I've ever read." She smiled.

"Maybe I'll read it when you're done with it! Is it in the library?"

"Probably, but I doubt you'd like it … it's dark and on the scary side," I warned.

"Donna, _remember what Destiny told us!_" Brooke hissed in Donna's ear.

"Oh! Right! Hey, Alex, we've gotta show you something!" I was instantly on my guard.

"Show me …what?"

"It's a surprise! You've gotta come with us!" Donna grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. "Come on!" I laughed harder as I was dragged towards the Shopping District.

-V-

Donna covered my eyes with her hands as we entered the Shopping District. I could hear the normal commotion of the place, along with Brooke's and Donna's laughing. As the ground began to slope downwards steeply, I realized where we were: Olde Town, the only place in Wizard City that was built on a slant. We turned to the left, and that's when I knew that we were headed towards my house, one of the few houses in Olde Town. I heard a door open, and whatever light I could see was extinguished. The door closed behind me, and Donna removed her hands from my eyes. We were in a pitch black room; the curtains were drawn, the door closed, and all the lights off. I could still vaguely tell that it was my living room; I could see faint outlines of the furniture, and there was a small, blinking green light in the far left corner of the ceiling, home to our smoke detector.

"What's going on?" I asked suspiciously, trying hard not to laugh.

"On three …" Brooke said softly.

"What?"

"One …"

"What are you doing?"

"Two …"

"_Brooke Swiftriver, what are you doing_?!"

"Three!" Light flooded into the room as the Diviner hit the light switch, and several people jumped out from behind various pieces of furniture and yelled,

"_Surprise_!" I jumped. I'd been expecting something, but it still shocked me. Once the initial shock was gone, I started to laugh again.

"Guys, what's all this?" Black and white streamers and balloons were hung from the ceiling and furniture, and black confetti littered the floor and tables. Sitting on the oval shaped coffee table was a cake shaped like the Death School's symbol. I could smell the chocolate from my spot by the door. Piled beside my favorite chair (the huge black armchair) were several boxes wrapped in colorful paper.

"Happy 17th birthday, Alex!" I turned towards the speaker. It was Sylvia. Beside her stood Malistaire, Erica, Heather, Destiny and Ashley. I grinned.

"Guys, when did you find time to do all this?" I laughed, gesturing towards the decorations and cake.

"Remember when we took you to visit the baby dragons?" Erica asked. I nodded. "Your mom and Destiny made the cake while we were there, and then today, while you were in class, Ashley, Heather and I decorated."

"Evan and the s-surprise guests should b-b-be here any m-minute," Heather added softly.

"Surprise guests?"

"One of his friends, and someone else that wanted to come," Sylvia replied, smiling mysteriously. "Now come here and have a seat! Don't just stand in the doorway; this is a party!" Still grinning, I sat down in the armchair.

"What's _taking _them so long? They promised they'd be here _right after us_!" Donna complained impatiently. As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. "_Come in come in come in_!" She shrieked, much to the amusement of me and my friends. The first person to step inside was Evan, who waved.

"Hey, Evan!" I called.

"Happy birthday, Alex," he replied, grinning as usual. Behind him was a young woman I knew very well.

"Hey, Marcia! You're here!" I waved at her from over the back of my chair. She smiled back broadly.

"Hey, Birthday Girl! How's it feel to be 17 and still in school?"

"Great, thanks," I replied, grinning mischievously. "I'm a Legendary now; the ceremony was a few days ago."

"So I heard. Congrats on that."

"Why, thank you." We both laughed.

"Alex, there's someone I want you to meet," Evan interrupted. I turned back to him.

"Who is it?"

"This is my friend Tristan Legendsword. Tristan, this is Alexandra Firesong." I studied the newcomer curiously. He was about my height, maybe an inch or two shorter, and his short blond hair was spiky, sticking out at odd angles. I could see just a bit of pale blue in his eyes, matching his pale skin. His robes were simple, a bit baggy, and dark blue, with hints of yellow at the collar, waistline and shoulders. Hanging off the back of his robe was a blue and yellow hood. He had to be a Conjurer.

"Hello, Tristan," I said carefully.

"Hello." His reply was calm and simple. What surprised me was his extremely thick accent, which I immediately identified as Dragonspyrian.

"Conjurer?"

"Yes; you are Legendary Necromancer, yes?" I nodded.

"So, you're from Dragonspyre?"

"Yes. I am exchange student from Academy. I am 16, and journeyman." His English was broken- clearly he was more used to speaking in Dragonspyrian- but I understood what he was saying easily enough.

"You started a bit late, didn't you?" I noted with slight amusement.

Tristan shook his head. "No. I started at 11, as normal. My … goal?" he glanced towards Evan.

"Focus," the Pyromancer prompted.

"Right. Focus. My focus has always been strategy, and on survival classes. I did not take enough magic classes, and they did not move here easily. Because Ravenwood has not the classes I take, I am journeyman."

Evan called over Tristan, apparently wanting him to meet Brooke and Heather. I wasn't quite sure what to make of the Conjurer, but he seemed friendly enough.

"Hey Alex! Alex Alex Alex Alex!" Donna called. I turned to face her, but before I could say anything, the Pyromancer kept on going. "Are you going to open your presents yet? Huh? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

"What if we have cake first, so the ice cream doesn't melt?" Sylvia suggested.

"Yay, cake! I love cake! What flavor is it? Is there chocolate? Can I help?" My friend hurried after Sylvia, chattering all the way. I smiled.


	10. Chapter 10: 17th Birthday

_**A/N: **__Revised version of chapter 10. Please enjoy! :)_

As Sylvia began to cut the cake into thick pieces, I mused about what Tristan had told me. Dragonspyre Academy … I'd heard of it, but in my eight years in Dragonspyre, I'd never actually seen the place. It was supposed to be one of the most elite schools of magic in the Spiral, harder to get into than any of the others, and one of the best places to study. The school of Death was extremely important there, second only to Fire. I'd heard of two of the teachers: the famous sisters who taught Death and Fire.

Ravina Blackwing was a widow, her husband the victim of the Dragon Titan's rise. Her sister Fyrina Bloodhand, had seen how devastated Ravina was by her husband's death and vowed never to marry. To seal the vow, she wrote it on a piece of paper, cut her hand from the tip of her pointer finger to the middle of her wrist, and signed the paper in her own blood. When the Undead invaded Dragonspyre, the two of them alone had driven the entire Undead army off the mountain, killed the leader, and buried most of the army under a rain of fire and ash. I wondered if Tristan had met either of them … luckily, I didn't have to ask. Donna did it for me.

"Hey, Tristan! If you go to Dragonspyre Academy, have you ever met Fyrina Bloodhand?" She stared at him eagerly.

"Yes. She teaches my strategy classes."

"Wow! That's so cool! You're so lucky! Have you met Ravina Blackwing, too? What's strategy class? What-"

"Give him a chance to answer, Donna!" Ashley laughed. The Pyromancer blushed, and I grinned.

"Professor Blackwing is Necromancy professor. Death is my second schooll. She also teaches solo combat. As for strat class … you do not have it?" We all shook our heads. Tristan looked confused. "Um … I've never had to explain before … Professor Bloodhand teaches how to be good at planning things, and how to arrange a battle in many situations, when we should use strong attacks or weaker attacks, when to heal … those things. I'm guessing you don't know solo, either … it is when we're trained to duel with and without magic when we're alone."

"You learn to fight without magic?" Brooke seemed shocked. "How is that possible? I thought magic was always more effective." She seemed reluctant to speak, although her curiosity clearly overcame her discomfort.

"Not always. If you are against a powerful magician, you don't want to duel with magic. Normally, the stronger someone is with magic, the worse they are at physical fighting."

"Weird …"

"The cake's ready! There's ice cream, too!" Sylvia started passing out plates with slices of cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream each. Brooke refused hers, shaking her head as she tiredly rubbed her eyes.

"Yum! Thanks, Mom," I said, digging my plastic spoon into the ice cream. For a while, we just sat in silence, eating our cake. Suddenly, Donna gasped.

"What is it?" Erica asked.

"We forgot to sing!" Donna shrieked.

"It's fine, really, I don't have a problem-" I started, but Donna shook her head fiercely.

"We have to sing! It's a _rule_!"

Sylvia smiled. "All right, Donna. You win. We'll sing. Happy birthday to you…" I blushed as they sang, hating being the center of attention. Almost immediately after the song was over, everyone dug back into their cake and ice cream.

-V-

When we had all finished the dessert and Sylvia had begun to clear away the plastic plates and forks, Donna bounced up and down in her seat.

"Can I bring you the presents?" She asked. I nodded, and the Pyromancer's eyes lit up as the smile filled her face. "Yay! Thanks, Alex!" She nearly jumped out of her seat and carefully inspected each present, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Ooh, pick mine!" Erica laughed, raising her hand jokingly.

"Nope. Yours is next," Donna replied, giggling as she tapped the long, flat box wrapped in silver and black paper. "Ashley's is first." She picked up the large square box and passed it to me carefully. I peeled the white bow off the top and stuck it on my present-passer's head, laughing at her surprise, and then tore off a corner of the paper to peek at the box. It wasn't an average cardboard box, but rather a metal one with a thermometer.

Confused, I peeled off the rest of the wrapping paper and inspected the large, almost cooler-looking box. "Is this … an egg incubator?" I asked, noticing how warm the box's temperature was.

The Thaumaturge grinned and nodded. "You probably shouldn't open it, since the hot air would get out, but it's a ghost. I'm not sure what type; I just asked Tennant Wastelander; he was a Death student for a while, right? I kinda figured he'd know what kind of pet you'd like." She shrugged, and I laughed.

"I know Tennant, and you're right- he was a Necromancer until he dropped out about three years ago. He made a good choice- I love ghosts!" I smiled and hugged the box, wondering what kind of ghost it was. "I'm going to name her Blackhope."

"How do you know it's a she?" Brooke inquired, staring thoughtfully at the box.

"I just know. This is Blackhope. Thanks, Ashley!"

"Why Blackhope?" Erica asked curiously.

I grinned. "It's the name of a Grizzlehemain queen I've been reading about lately- actually, her name is Svarthå, which basically translates to Blackhope. She was this really awesome queen who led her army in war and actually fought alongside her- the first female warrior in Grizzleheim."

"That's pretty awesome."

"Isn't it?" Reluctantly, I set my ghost's incubator down at the foot of my chair and accepted Erica's package from Donna. I wasn't quite so careful with the paper this time, eagerly ripping it away as I figured out what it was. My friends all jumped in surprise as I drew the long silver blade from the black scabbard. The sword had a silver basket hilt, and it was engraved with elegant swirls.

"What kind of sword is that?" Tristan asked curiously.

"A Cutlass of Catastrophe," I answered, grinning. "It's one of the best Death swords out there, and completely to my taste. I've been wanting to get one since I was a Magus. Thank you, Erica! This is awesome!"

The scholar grinned, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose. "I also, uh, talked to Diego; he says he's willing to teach you how to duel with it, if you want." She awkwardly ducked her head.

"That would be awesome! I'll have to thank him later." I carefully re-sheathed the sword and propped it up against the side of the armchair.

The next present was an autographed copy of _Dark Thoughts_ from Marcia; I also received a dark sprite pet from Destiny. I immediately guessed that the sprite was also a girl, and named her Lunetta, after one of the first Marleybonian Necromancers.

Evan and Tristan had worked together to get a present for me; Tristan had lent his friend some gold, and the Pyromancer had given me a custom-made amulet. "Oh, Evan …" I could feel tears starting to well up in my eyes. The amulet in the box was an exact replica of the Firesong Family seal- a dragon encircled by a ring of flames and musical notes- and it looked just like the one my mother had always worn. "Thank you." I immediately put on the amulet and hugged my friend.

In a small rectangular box was a set of 12 Death treasure cards bearing a note:

_You and me, Marleybone Dueling Arena, 6:00 p.m. tomorrow._

_-Sabrina Jadeleaf_

"Wow. That was almost nice of her," I joked, receiving several laughs from my guests.

Malistaire and Sylvia had gotten me something I had been daydreaming about ever since I was old enough to buy a castle of my own: the Death House. Well, the actual house wasn't wrapped in paper, but the key was, an old black skeleton key that matched the spooky mansion perfectly.

"You'll have to furnish it yourself, though," Malistaire reminded me as I stood to hug him and Sylvia. I nodded, too busy smiling to say anything. It would be easy to earn enough gold to purchase a few things for my new house, but first I had to get my mount.

It turned out that I didn't even have to worry about that: standing just outside the front door, poking her head in through the window and biting on to a card that said "From Brooke, Donna and Heather," was the beautiful black dragon I had seen in the mount shop so many times.

"Oh my gosh … you guys are too nice to me!" I laughed, giving each of the three girls a hug.

"Hey, what are friends for?" Donna giggled.

"What will you c-call her?" Heather asked, turning her gaze from me to the onyx colored eyes of the dragon mount.

I paused for a moment before answering. "Bat."I pointed at the dragon's batlike wings and nodded. "Definitely Bat." My two hatched pets, Nightshade and Midnight, joined us in the living room.

"Hey, there's my special boys! You're going to have some company soon. That's Bat, and the two eggs that haven't hatched are Lunetta and Blackhope. I'm sure you'll all get along great."

I couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day.


	11. Chapter 11: The Hospital

_**A/N:**_ _O_O I'm so glad I've got the revised chapter 11 done … the last version was an embarrassment to my writing abilities. Do enjoy the new version; it is considerably darker than the former version! xD_

_**-ONE WEEK LATER-**_

_3:35 p.m._

_The Death School_

_Journeyman Class_

"Are you _sure_ you want me to teach them the vampire spell? They never listen to me!" I complained to Malistaire. He sighed in annoyance before responding, and I braced myself for a lecture.

"Alex, your mother is ill, and the Journeymen are behind as it is! Dworgyn is only here as a supervisor; he hasn't cast a vampire in years. You're the only one qualified to teach this class. Think of it as training; call it an internship if you'd like, but you need to teach these students!" He spun around and strode out of the school, and I glared at his back.

"What if I don't want to be a teacher?" I muttered. I didn't have time to sulk; the bell was about to ring, and I had to figure out a way to get the students to listen to me long enough to learn vampire. My mind was far away as I pored over Malistaire's teacher plans; Sylvia had looked particularly bad that morning: coughing, shivering, whispering that everything hurt and her head was burning. Malistaire had taken her to the Theurgist Department, leaving me to supervise the Novice class. I'd simply told them to practice their Dark Sprite spells and started pacing back and forth, worrying about my mother. I thought of what she would say. How would she handle the loud, disrespectful Journeymen? She'd put them in their place, that's for sure … but how? Probably a stern look and a few words … that wouldn't work for _these _particular Journeymen. I glanced at Dworgyn pleadingly, and he grinned, beckoning me closer.

"You are no Theurgist, and so Theurgist methods will not work. If you cannot tell, then show," he whispered in my ear. I grinned. A light bulb had just turned on in my head.

-V-

The bell had just rung, and several late students were wandering in lazily, chatting and ignoring me. When the last one had taken his seat, I tried to remember Malistaire's trick to shut the door by magic. I hadn't practiced the spell much, and so the door wouldn't simply shut, it would … _slam_.

Every student jumped almost a foot in the air, and I fixed them with my darkest, nastiest glare.

"My mother is very ill, and my father has gone to stay with her. He has left you in my charge, and so you will do as I say," I ordered in a frozen tone. A girl in the front tried to interrupt, but I glared at her. "I hear you are learning the vampire spell today. Is that right?" A few frightened students (a rarity in that particular class) nodded.

One Necromancer leaned back in his chair and called, "What if we don't feel like learning vampire, Alexandra?"

I slowly turned to him. "Well, that's why I'm bringing in a friend to HELP me teach it to you." I drew my brand new cutlass from its scabbard, drew the Death Symbol, and selected the animate card from my deck. A dark, cloudy mass appeared in front of me. "And by the way," I sneered, "You will call me _Miss Firesong_." A wraith glided out of the cloud, threateningly waving a scythe and hissing at the class. "This is my pet Nightshade, transformed from a small pet into a full-sized wraith. The two of us are going to duel. He will use vampire first, to demonstrate it to you on its own, and I will temporarily give up my Death resistance." I transformed my Legendary outfit into my novice robes, which I magically altered to fit me at age 17. "You will see the vampire cast at its normal strength, and then I will use blades and traps to power up its strength. Observe in silence; the next one to speak duels me, and I will have my resistance back."

Nightshade drew the dueling circle, and I took my place in the sun circle. I passed, waiting as my pet drew the Death Symbol. In the center of the dueling circle, an upright black coffin appeared, swinging open to reveal a vampire's face. The batlike creature swooped out and bit me, dealing exactly 350 damage, and returned 175 health to Nightshade. I began to prepare for my full blown vampire. Death trap, feint and curse. Death blade, dark pact and death prism. Finally, I played two treasure cards (balance blade and spirit blade) and cast my vampire. The blades and traps activated, ending with the death prism, and the vampire dove at Nightshade, dealing more than five times his health. He passed out on the floor before shrinking back to his normal size. I switched my clothes back to normal and cast sacrifice on him, returning him to consciousness. He returned to my backpack.

I glared at the class, fixing the worst troublemakers with a special stare I saved just for them. Ethan Blacksea, the school's famous prankster, got the worst one, and for once, he actually looked scared. "Get out your notebooks and pens, and start taking notes," I told them. "I'll write what you need to know on the bo-" _Tap_, _tap_, _tap_. Someone was at the door to the School. "Correction: _Dworgyn _will be writing what you need to know on the board. I'll be back in a minute."

As Dworgyn started writing on the blackboard, I made my way down to the door and pulled it open a crack. At the door stood a very out-of-breath, slightly dizzy looking boy in dark green robes.

"Mrs. … Drake … is very … badly off … Malistaire … wants … his daughter … at the … hospital!" He wheezed between gulps of air. My eyes widened.

"Dworgyn, you're in charge! Class, obey him, or I'll sic Nightshade on you when I get back," I called over my shoulder as I ran out the door. "Need a lift back?" I asked the Theurgist. He nodded, so I grabbed his arm and teleported to the Commons. Bat, sensing that I needed a ride, landed in front of me. I gave her the barest of nods as I swung onto her back, dragging the Theurgist with me. "Hospital," I told the dragon. She took off at her fastest pace.

Seconds after we landed in front of the hospital, I was sprinting towards the door, completely ignoring my mount and the Theurgist that had come along.

"Are you here to see Sylvia Drake?" The receptionist asked, looking slightly nervous as I paused in front of her. I nodded. "She's on this floor, room 7. Please wear a mask in there; her cold could be very contag-" I was gone the second the room number had left her lips.

-V-

I grabbed a mask from the box mounted on the wall as I ran towards Sylvia's room, pushed the curtain-covered door open and stepped inside. Three Theurgists with gold trim on their robes (the mark of a Head Theurgist) and an intern in dark green was hurrying around the room in a panicked frenzy, opening cupboards, rifling through drawers, strewing healing Treasure Cards across a desk, trying to find something to help the Life professor. Malistaire was standing not far from the hospital bed, his eyes fixed on his wife, his hands clenched tightly behind him. I could tell that he was trying to appear calm and formal, as usual, but the tension in him was visible, and I could see the deep fear buried deep in his eyes. My father was absolutely terrified.

I took a few steps closer to the bed, staring in shock at the figure that was my mother. I dropped the mask. Her emaciated figure was covered in a too-large blue hospital gown. Sylvia's skin had become a sickly greenish color, and her eyes were shut tightly, her hands lying limp at her sides. There were several needles, tubes and wires hooked up to her, and a monitor over her head showed a weak heartbeat.

"What's going on?" I whispered to the Death professor.

"They don't know," he replied shortly.

The intern Theurgist paused for a moment in front of me. "Her heart rate suddenly dropped about fifteen minutes ago," he informed me. "You and Malistaire were called when she didn't improve at all. Her breathing's gotten very irregular, and her fever has skyrocketed, but most of her body is freezing to the touch. She hasn't opened her eyes since this morning." With that, he returned to the shelf he had been searching. All I could do was watch in fear and beg the Titans not to take her.

-V-

It was ten minutes before something changed drastically-and it wasn't for the better. Sylvia's eyes suddenly shot open, and she gasped something unintelligible. The zigzagged lines showing her heart rate became shorter and closer together, and the temperature reader said "107 degrees."

"What's happening?" I gasped, watching the gruesome scene, unable to take my eyes off Sylvia. The intern didn't even pause to speak to me this time; rather, he shouted to me as he ran back and forth, doing what the older Theurgists told him.

"Emergency! Get out of the way, both of you; other Theurgists will be coming in really soon!" Sure enough, the door slammed open a moment later, and two more Head Theurgists joined the other three. A red and gold robed Pyromancer hurried in, and quickly started trying to draw the heat out of Sylvia's body. A Thaumaturge in white and blue joined him a moment later, and used ice to drop the room's temperature about 15 degrees.

Nothing was helping. Sylvia's temperature went up two more degrees, and her heartbeat only got more irregular and much faster. The Theurgists seemed desperate, and a few of them seemed to be giving up-at least, they looked like they were giving up until Malistaire stepped in. He leaned towards the Theurgists menacingly, and his staff top glowed black.

"Do not give up on her," he growled, narrowing his eyes. They nodded fearfully and doubled their efforts. They got nothing. No results. My mother gave a strangled gasp, gave Malistaire and I a wide-eyed glance, and I guess her heart gave out, because the lines disappeared on the monitor. There was nothing. She was gone, dead, lost forever. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood, and a few tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. I pressed my tightly clenched fist into my mouth, trying so hard not to cry, I almost fell to my knees in the middle of the hospital room. I had to choke back a sob that was desperately trying to escape, and I took several shaky breaths of air, still trying to regain control of myself. I glanced over at Malistaire, and realized that he was faring no better. The professor of Death, one of the strongest, most composed people I knew, was crying. He had a hand pressed over his eyes in an attempt to conceal it, but I could see that his face was wet with tears. My nails dug into my palms as I clenched my fists tighter, and I turned my gaze back to Sylvia's body. Life was going to be surreal and nearly impossible without her.


	12. Chapter 12: Numb

_**A/N: **__Please make sure to read this chapter carefully; as I have already mentioned SEVERAL times, there is a very major plot change in this chapter, one that you will need to know in one of the chapters I have yet to publish. I'll tell you what it is at the end of the chapter, JUST IN CASE you miss it. XD_

_Thanks to SuperYuuki for submitting Moira Moonchaser, a new O.C._

_**-ONE MONTH LATER-**_

Life without Sylvia was just as hard-no, harder-than I had expected. For the first three days, Malistaire wouldn't leave the house. He sat in his room, mostly, only leaving when necessary. I, on the other hand, couldn't stand to be in the place. There were too many memories, too many things to sting my open wounds more. And so, I avoided the place. I avoided it as well as I could. I spent nights in my Death House and the daytime in Ravenwood.

I worked as hard as I could on as much as I could, trying to block the torrent of memories and sorrow being poured into my soul. Someone had to help Dworgyn with the Necromancy classes, and so I did. I helped the old hunchback to teach every single Necromancy class, and every single Necromancy class obeyed me, staring at me with fear in their eyes, almost like I was going to stab them if they said or did one single thing wrong. Even the Journeymen behaved themselves for once, sitting straight up in their chairs and focusing on every word I said. I wasn't quite sure why for the first day, and then I looked in a mirror. It was rather frightening; there were dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep, and my face seemed paler and thinner than normal with a dark hood hanging around it. I found that when I glared, I looked almost like a monster.

Malorn Ashthorn, a college student who was studying teaching, he helped Dworgyn teach the Legendary Necromancer class. The guy tried his best, but he had just learned the things he was teaching us, and he was clearly struggling.

My friends helped me as much as they could. Heather sent me flowers that she had grown. Destiny invited me to spend the night at her house if I ever needed an escape. Sabrina even managed a sincere "I'm so sorry" when she heard the news. I really did try to feel better, especially once I had the support of my friends. It was hard, though. So hard … I was barely hanging on, trying to force myself through one more day, just one more.

Initially, my reaction to Sylvia's death was shock, a kind of numbness that almost made me sick. I wanted to feel something, _anything _besides this awful nothingness. I knew I should be sad, upset, mourning her, but I just … _couldn't._ There was nothing at all, and the guilt from that lack of feeling was the first feeling to return.

Once the shock wore off, there was pain. It started small, like a needle prick right in my heart. It got a little bigger when I saw a picture of Sylvia gardening, turning into a knife to the heart, and kept getting progressively worse. The pain was deep, cutting me right to the core like a sword. Suddenly I was crying every day, thinking of everything I'd ever loved about Sylvia and wishing I could remember more about her. Every time I saw or heard something that reminded me of her, I would feel a sharp stab of pain. I couldn't walk by the School of Life without thinking, _I'll never see her step outside that building to meet me again. _I couldn't see a Theurgist walk by without remembering who their teacher had been. I couldn't even look at flowers the same, knowing how much she had loved them.

It was easily the worst part of my life so far. Malistaire wasn't faring any better than I was; if anything, he was worse off than me. He was far quieter than normal, often just sitting and staring at the walls for hours, completely lost in thought. His temper had become disturbingly short all of a sudden; the normally reserved, levelheaded Death Professor would practically shoot flames out his ears if the slightest problem occurred, especially over Sylvia or something concerning her. When I was dusting off her picture one day and accidentally dropped it, cracking the frame, Malistaire had gotten so mad … for once, even _I _was scared of him. He'd sent me to my room for the first time since I'd been adopted by him, and although I had immediately teleported to my island, I had fumed about it for an hour before finally cooling off.

He was hardly fit to teach classes in his state, but after a week, he insisted upon resuming his position as the Necromancy professor. I worried about him all day, and for a little while I considered going to check in on him, but Destiny convinced me that it would be a bad idea. I had halfheartedly agreed; he would probably have just tossed me out. I waited impatiently for 3:00, hoping that Malistaire wouldn't have a breakdown before my class.

The younger students had gotten lucky; there wasn't a single casualty by the time I arrived at three o'clock. A few of them (mainly novices) had been scared senseless, but there was nothing irreversible. The Legendary Necromancers, all of them worried about Malistaire's state of mind as well, had showed up a little bit early and were waiting for me outside of the School. The seven of them watched anxiously as I approached.

_"Alex, should your dad be teaching?"_ One of them had asked.

I'd shrugged. _"I doubt it. He wanted to, though."_

The others had accepted my news quietly, and we'd all gone inside. Malistaire had acted somewhat normal, albeit quieter than normal, and we were relieved. That is, he acted normally until Andrew had fizzled while casting a skeletal dragon …

We'd all told him "tough luck, sorry it fizzled," all the normal things we said whenever someone fizzled in a practice spell. Malistaire, however …

He normally looked on with a blank expression when someone fizzled, said "Keep practicing," and told the next demonstrator to come up and try. This time, however, his face had twisted in rage, and he'd fired a bolt of black lightning at Andrew, who dodged just at the right second.

_"Why can't you ever do _anything _right?!"_ He'd roared. I had stood up and told him to stop, that it wasn't Andrew's fault he fizzled, and to go take a walk to cool down. Thank the Titans he'd listened to me; if he hadn't, there was no telling what he would have done.

Dworgyn had simply watched in silence, not bothering to take over where Malistaire had left off. I had broken down sobbing, right in the middle of class, with all of the other Legendary Necromancers staring at me. I just couldn't handle it anymore; my adoptive father had gone completely, leaving a stranger behind. I didn't know if there was a way I could ever get him back, and my hope had completely been shattered. I would have done anything to make the real Malistaire come back, but there was nothing I could do except watch his deterioration from the inside out.

I thought for sure that life was at its all-time low, like things couldn't possibly get any worse. How wrong I was … it seems that fate has a strange way of twisting around thoughts like those. Just when things seem to be at their worst, something else happens, something so unimaginably awful that it can't be understood until long after it's over.

It started out as a simple day, the same as the one before and the one before that. There had been no change to my routine in almost a full month; a perfectly exact routine was the only way to keep my sanity and force myself through each day. I was in the library again, this time studying the Relic Warriors- still my favorite historical topic after six years. There was some sort of disturbance just outside, but I didn't give it a second thought; probably some younger wizards getting into mischief again. Next came the screaming. It was faint, and off in the distance, but I could clearly hear people screaming.

The whisper from Destiny followed almost immediately: _Alex! Hurry! Something's going on with the Death School! Please, come, and hurry! _There was a desperate urgency in her mind's voice, and I could sense the terror she was feeling. I immediately stood up from my chair and dropped the book, grabbed my bag and sprinted for the exit. I ignored Harold Argleston's reminder to walk as I slammed into the door.

Bat was still waiting just outside, where I had left her. I leaped onto her back, kicking her in the ribs to get her going. The dragon snorted indignantly, but she took off anyways.

"To Ravenwood, and go as fast as you can, Bat!" I gasped in her ear, panicking at the thought of what awaited me.

-V-

It was about as bad as I'd expected. Malistaire was having major issues, but not just the ranting, throwing-things type fits he normally had. This time he was tearing the Death School away from Ravenwood.

The class of initiates were fleeing the classroom as fast as they could, collapsing around Bartleby's roots as soon as they knew they were safe. There were black streams of energy slowly snaking out of the door after the children, and they were latching on to the ground, slowly forcing their way down. Huge cracks were forming in the ground around the Death School and the Death Tower, splitting Ravenwood into two pieces. Bat dropped me in front of the Fire School, and I started running towards my school. Just as I was about to leap onto the piece of land that was slowly being torn away, I was thrown backwards as someone's arm collided with my chest. I fell to the ground, staring at my "attacker:" Patrick Firesong, or should I say, Patrick _Flameharp_.

"What are you doing?" I snapped, pulling myself to my feet. "I'm the only one who can talk

some sense into him; why did you stop me?"

"He'll kill you, and even if we had a … a disagreement, I won't let Malistaire kill you." I tried to say something else, but he held up his hand for silence. For once, I listened. "I'm sorry for what I did, and if I have to die to save your life, I'll do it." He shrugged, kind of grinned, and ran towards the Death School. The last I saw of my blood father was his scarlet cloak blowing in the wind as he was enveloped in thick black smoke.

I stared in horror as the Death School began to shake strangely, like there was an earthquake inside. And then it was gone. Just like that, my school disappeared, leaving nothing, not even a speck. Slowly, I reached out a hand to steady myself, and my palm found the rough bark of Bartleby's surface. I sank to my knees, unsure if my legs would be able to hold up my weight. I sighed. I knew that I wouldn't be able to cry, not yet at least. The numbness was coming back, and I accepted it willingly. The welcome deficit of pain would become my shield; surely blocking out pain wouldn't be too hard to learn. I was ready to give up, to completely get lost in my hopelessness. There was nothing left anymore. Life was hollow, and I'd be hollow to match it. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I glanced up at its owner from under my eyelashes.

"Alex? Are-are you okay? Is there anything you need?" Destiny's voice sounded fuzzy, for some reason.

I faced the Death School- or what was left of it- once again, trying to process what I had just witnessed. "... Alex? Alex. Alex Firesong … that's my name ... I don't know if I'm okay. I don't know why I'm alive. I don't know anything anymore. There's nobody left- nobody, Destiny." I turned away from her, feeling like I was in a dream. "They're all gone. Everyone's left me. I'm alone … all alone …" I barely registered the expression of shock and horror on her face as I got shakily to my feet. I was only focused on going home. I ignored every person who tried to talk to me. I walked right past Bat without saying a word. Instead, I kept walking towards Olde Town. I was sick of everything; all I wanted to do was sleep forever. A few hours would have to suffice.

-V-

_"The School's right where you wanted it, Malistaire." The albino girl leaned up against the doorframe, grinning strangely._

_"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" The rage in the man's voice was evident. "I will not be called by the same name my Sylvia used by a CHILD."_

_"Now, why would I want to do that, when it's so much more fun to annoy you, SIR?" This time, the girl's voice was mocking and singsong. She smirked wider at the look on his face._

_"Moira Moonchaser! If you don't show me some respect, then so help me, I will turn you into a lost soul!" He roared, approaching her with his staff held high in the air. _

_Moira poked her finger into his chest, stopping him a foot away from her. "No you won't. You wouldn't dare. Not when I'm so valuable to you." Malistaire fumbled for a response, but he found nothing. Moira sniggered when he realized that she was right. "Besides, if you get rid of me now, you won't hear my genius plan." _

_The Death professor lowered his staff and stepped back, folding his arms. "Do tell this … plan of yours, and I won't dispose of you, at least not yet." _

_Moira gave an exaggerated sigh. "Well, if you put it so very kindly … first, you corrupt a small group of elite fighters. When they're firmly on your side, you station them around Wizard City. That way, all of the most powerful wizards are busy dealing with them, and you're free to carry out your master plan with little to no interference." _

_Slowly, Malistaire began to nod, reluctant to admit just how good the plan really was. "I suppose," he grumbled._

_"And that's not even all of it yet." Moira sounded smug as she continued. "Your daughter, she's the most likely one to come after us, am I right?"_

_"Adopted daughter," Malistaire muttered, seeming slightly regretful._

_"Am I _right_?"_

_"Yes." _

_She nodded. "I figured. Well, let me tell you, I've got an idea that will mess her up so bad, there's no _way _she'll come after us." Her smile hardened at the thought of Alexandra, and she clenched her hand into a fist. "Her mind will be destroyed beyond repair …"_


	13. Chapter 13: The Discovery

_**A/N: **__Here's the edited chapter 13! It's a little shorter than I wanted it to be, but unfortunately my muse hasn't been around much lately. I'll probably rewrite this rewrite at some point …_

As tired as I was, sleep was impossible in the little house in Olde Town. I left my small bedroom and wandered through the empty halls, tracing the wallpaper with my finger and looking at everything but seeing nothing. The memories that were embedded into its walls haunted me, filling my dreams and my thoughts with ghostly images of what my life had been before Sylvia's death, before Malistaire's goodness died, before everything came to pieces. When I could no longer bear it, I fled from the house and teleported to my own castle.

I took a deep breath of the cool air as I appeared in the middle of my front yard. A storm was on its way; I could see the thick gray clouds brewing in the sky overhead, obscuring my view of the stars and the inky black night sky. The wind was picking up, and the branches of the dead trees clattered against one another like the spindly fingers of a skeleton. I hurried towards the creaking, groaning old house, and I'd just made it onto the steps when the rain began to fall.

I shoved open the door and stepped inside, tossing my backpack onto the ground and dropping my hat onto one of the bone hooks on the wall.

"Hello? Nightshade, I'm home," I called, hoping that my pet wraith would come gliding into the foyer to greet me. The wraith was always a comfort to me when I was upset. He could sense what I was feeling, and he could usually make me feel at least a little better. "Nightshade?" There was no response. All I heard was a muffled groaning sound coming from the basement.

"Nightshade Firesong, this isn't funny! I'm not in the mood for hide and seek," I snapped. There was still no response. "Fine. Be that way. Spoiled wraith," I muttered under my breath, taking a few more steps into the house.

The groaning sound echoed through the house a second time. I figured that the furnace was acting up and made a mental note to have an engineer look at it sometime soon. I wouldn't want a broken furnace when the winter months hit, especially since my island floated just off the coast of Grizzleheim, home to some of the most brutal winters in the Spiral. I'd probably end up staying with Destiny in her Life House, which was close to Mooshu and its warm, sunny climate- if I didn't get snowed in, that is.

"Hey, Bat! Are you here?" I heard the soft fluttering of wings, and my black dragon landed in front of me. I gave her a tiny, fake smile. "Do you have any idea where the others are? I called Nightshade three times already."

"Attacked."

I raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about, Batty?"

"Attacked," she insisted. I noticed that she was breathing much more heavily than usual, and her left wing was drooping.

"Bat … are you okay?" I asked, reaching for the switch that would magically light the bone chandelier. Flickering candlelight flooded the room, and I saw Bat clearly. Her eyes were dull, almost glazed over, and she was staring at the ground dejectedly. I stepped closer to inspect her left wing. There was a long, jagged tear in the fragile membrane, and it was oozing blood that was a sickly green color instead of healthy dark red. "What happened?" I gasped.

"Attacked," Bat muttered.

"Come on, Bat! I know you can say more than that!"

"Attacked." I looked more closely at the wound. It wasn't a normal injury; this was something that had been done to her- and if I was correct, the attacker had been an ianthine spectre. Something was very wrong here … I slid my cutlass out of the sheath at my hip, looking around for intruders. Bat noticed my sword, and her eyes widened. She shrieked loudly and reared, then blew fire into the air. She was getting ready to … charge at me?! I quickly cast a protection spell and, without looking back, ran towards the basement. Something had happened to Bat, and I was starting to get a feeling that an insane dragon was the least of my problems.

Thankfully, Bat didn't chase me into the basement, and I stumbled down the steps, blindly making my way down in the pitch black. In my haste to get away, I'd forgotten to turn the light on, and the light was upstairs- much too close to Bat for my liking. When I reached the bottom, I felt along the wall for the downstairs switch, found it, and activated the magic candles that lined the walls. They blazed to life, and I discovered the full extent of the problems within my house.

Midnight, my pet scarecrow, was locked in a tiny cage. The bars of the cage glistened with the presence of a magical lock, and a circle of fire had been drawn on the floor around the cage. There was no way Midnight would be able to escape on his own. Someone had clearly gone to a lot of trouble to keep him locked up. It was then that I noticed the absence of my other pets. Nightshade, Blackhope and Lunetta were gone. They normally waited in the basement when I wasn't home, and they should have been here. I had a sinking feeling that they weren't in my house at all.

I quickly cast a Balefrost over the cage to put out the flames, and I jabbed the point of my cutlass into the cage's lock. The magic burst and the cage door swung open, allowing Midnight to come hurtling out into the basement. He clutched my leg tightly, and I reached down to pat his head reassuringly. The scarecrow floated away after a second and flew over to a small stool that I used to reach the pet snack cupboard, mounted high on the wall and out of my pets' reach. Midnight gestured for me to come closer.

"What is it, Midnight?" I asked. He held up an envelope, which had been sitting on top of the stool. It was sealed with a black crescent moon.


	14. Chapter 14: Letter

Before I even touched the letter, I had a bad feeling about what would be inside it. It could be nothing good. "What's this, Midnight?" I asked, hardly expecting an answer from the scarecrow. He was born unable to speak, and rather chose to communicate through gestures and the occasional facial expression (if he could manage it). Midnight shrugged, shook his head and drifted closer to pass me the letter. I could tell that his hands were shaking as I felt the prickly straw brush against my skin.

I brushed my fingers over the waxy seal. It was an unfamiliar symbol; the black moon wasn't something any of my friends used (if they even used a seal- several didn't) and the Headmaster used the official Ravenwood seal. It wasn't the Death School seal, either. That one was the usual white skull on a black background. No, this was unfamiliar.

Hesitantly, I turned over the envelope. My name was written in a careless, sloppy scrawl on the front. I was almost afraid to open it and see what was inside, but open it I did. There was a letter folded twice, and as I unfolded it slowly and began to read, my blood went cold.

**Alexandra Firesong-**

**You've probably never heard of me, and you've definitely never seen me, because I've never wanted you to. My name is Moira Moonchaser, and I am … well, you could call me a partner of Malistaire Drake's. Just to let you know so you understand the situation here, your pets have been taken. They're all mine now- except for that scarecrow of yours. I figured you might want someone to cry with- you know, since everyone you've ever known or loved is now dead, your dragon's nuts and all you have left is a thing made out of straw.**

**Regarding the dragon: I'm not going to tell you what I did, because that will let you fix it, and we can't have that, now can we? Let's just say she tried to defend your house and I solved the problem. If something is in my way, I make it **_**go **_**away. She seems to be awfully afraid of the runes on your sword now. Sorry about that little inconvenience.**

**Oh, and one more thing- I thought you'd like to know that within a day or two, your precious little pets will be doing our bidding, one way or another. Your city is coming down, Firesong. I'd say 'see you around,' except you won't see me, since I **_**still **_**don't want you to.**

**-M.M.**

"Moonchaser …" I'd never heard the name before, but now the sound of it made my heart go dark with fury. "If you think I'm just going to sit by and let you walk all over me and my life, you've got another thing coming," I snarled at the letter, crushing the paper in my fist. "Midnight, I want you to wait right here and get ready to travel. We have to make two stops, and then we're going to hunt this 'Moira' down."

Bat was afraid of the runes on my sword, and that was a problem for me. I'd have to find a dragon caretaker to try and help her- to get rid of the problem with her mind, whatever Moira had done, and to heal her wing. The only dragon caretakers I knew of lived in Dragonspyre … all of them but one.

Tristan Legendsword, the foreign exchange student, had briefly mentioned studying dragon care while at my party the week prior, and so I would ask him to take care of Bat for me while I looked for Moira. I also needed to find out where the wizard in question had gone, and for that I needed the help of my friends. Even with my thoughts clouded by grief and anger, I knew that I couldn't do this alone, and so I sent out a _whisper _to Erica, Donna, Brooke, Destiny, Evan, Ashley and Heather: _I need your help. Someone's taken my pets hostage, and she claims to be working with Malistaire. We have to do something, and I want all of you to come with me. Meet me in the Commons at three- at the tree in front of the Headmaster's Office. Pack for a long trip._

They all agreed- every one of them.

-V-

I cautiously headed up the stairs to the main floor. I had to pack a few things before leaving, and to do that I had to get past Bat, through the foyer and upstairs to my bedroom. Bat was waiting for me at the top of the stairs.

"I know what happened to you, Bat," I started, eyeing her warily. "At least, I think I do. You were attacked by someone named Moira Moonchaser."

"Attacked," the dragon agreed sadly.

"I'm going to hunt her down and make her pay for this, Bat, and I'm going to get Tristan to help you, but you'll have to stay here in Wizard City. You can't come with me to find her."

Bat shrugged dejectedly and winced as she ruffled her injured wing and nodded. I knew that she understood. I was tempted to hug her, as I did sometimes to comfort the dragon, but decided against it. The image of her charging at me was still firmly engrained into my mind.

"Will you be okay to fly when Midnight and I are ready to go?"

Bat nodded. I was hoping that her wing would hold up long enough to reach Wizard City …

"Good. Wait down here, then." I turned and headed for the stairs.

_Nightshade, Lunetta and Blackhope are gone. What is she doing to them? They could be hurt or dead or- _My anger was threatening to overflow into more tears, and tears were something that I couldn't deal with right now. I had to focus on one thing: hunting down Moira Moonchaser. She was going to die when I got hold of her. I inhaled and then exhaled, taking all of my worry and sadness and bottling it up. Only the rage was left, and rage was what I needed. My grip tightened on the railing.

"I hate you, Moira Moonchaser. I am going to kill you."

-V-

It didn't take long to pack. I didn't figure that I would need much, even for a long trip: warm clothes, some food, a stone to sharpen my sword, food for Midnight, a few potions and my extra spell deck. I chose to wear a pair of sturdy boots, my favorite black robe and a hooded cloak, then slipped my Firesong amulet over my head after considering it for a moment. After heading back downstairs, I called to Midnight and Bat while heading for the door. The two soon joined me on the porch, and I shut the door firmly behind the three of us.

"We probably won't be back for a while," I stated, pulling the house key from my pocket and locking the door. For a moment I simply stared at the closed door, wondering what I was getting myself into, and then I swung into Bat's saddle. Midnight was settled comfortably in my backpack. "Go, Bat. Go to Wizard City." With a few clumsy steps, she took to the air, and off we went.

_**A/N: **__Not my best revision ever, but I tried. :/_


	15. Chapter 15: Searching for Clues

I landed in the middle of the Commons, and immediatly, evey novice in the area ran screaming away from me. "Bat, wait here." I said. She nodded, and I headed towards the Headmaster's office.

" Oh! Hello, Alex." Headmaster Ambrose said, looking up as I entered. The four initiates moved to let me pass, and the novice that was talking to the Headmaster whimpered and hid behind Ambrose.

" My name is Alexandra. I wish to report that three of my pets have been stolen by a person named 'Moira Moonchaser.' I don't know how old she is, how strong she is, or where she is, but she told me in a letter that she's a Death Student and a partner of Malistaire's. They are planning to take over Wizard City; that is all I know."

" Goodness! This is grave news indeed!"  
>" Will the bad teacher come here and get us, Headmaster?" The novice, a girl in green robes, asked.<br>" My father is not evil. At least . . . he wasn't always." I spat.

" I will begin research on this. Now, tell me, which of your pets were stolen?"

" Blackhope the ghost, Nightshade the wraith, and Lenora the dark sprite. Oh, and Moira attacked my dragon. Now, Bat's programed to say 'Attack' whenever you talk to her. I've only gotten her to say one other thing since I went home today. Also, she is terrified of my death wand and spell cards. I think Moira did something to her."

" I am no expert on dragons. While I look into this 'Moira Moonchaser,' go visit that exchange student from Dragonspyre. His parents are drake trainers, and he should be able to help your dragon."

" I will do that." I grumbled, remembering my last visit with Tristan Legendsword. I left in search of the Conjurer from Dragonspyre. "Bat! Come here!" I called. She flew over.

" Attack."

" How about this: how about you stop talking until we get you some help from a dragon professional?" I suggested. The dragon nodded. "Good. We're going to find Evan Starblade. I need to talk to his friend." I climbed onto her back, and we took off. I searched the ground for signs of the Legendary Pyromancer, but there was no sign of him. I flew down beside a Pyromancer I didn't recognize. "Do you know where Evan Starblade is?" I asked.  
>" Y-yes." The wizard squeaked. I recognized her as an apprentice. I could tell because of her robes.<p>

" Tell me where he is."  
>" He-he went over t-to the library." She stuttered nervously, eyeing Bat.<br>" If you don't show her your wand or try and harm her, she won't attack you." I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Thanks for the help." I flew towards the library. I jumped out of Bat's saddle before she had completely landed and ran towards the library. I wasn't letting on just how nervous I was about my dragon. I rarely showed emotions, even before Sylvia's death. It was just a trait that matched my school. The apprentice hadn't been lying. Evan was standing at a bookshelf, flipping through a book. I approached him silently. "Any idea where that exchange student is?" I asked flatly.  
>" Whoa! Alex, you startled-"<br>" My name is ALEXANDRA!" I interrupted angrily.  
>" Sorry. Yeah, I know where Tristan is. Who wants to know?" I wasn't in the mood for the Pyromancer's good naturedness and sense of humor.<p>

" Hmm, let's see: maybe my dragon, who was ATTACKED today and has been severely damaged in the mind and needs a dragon expert to help her!" I shot back.  
>" What!"<br>" Yeah."  
>" Tristan's over at the Myth school, talking to Professor Drake about something." Without a word of thanks to him, I turned and left. A minute later, I was soaring through the air on Bat, and we landed directly in front of the Myth school. I braced myself and entered.<br>" You're doing well, I suppose. That Dragonspyre school has you moderatly well trained." The professor was saying to Tristan.  
>" Tristan, my dragon needs help." I said, approaching the two.<br>" Hold on, Necromancer. I'm busy."  
>" SHE IS HAVING SOME SERIOUS MENTAL ISSUES AND SHE NEEDS YOUR HELP!" I yelled.<p>

" Sheesh, cool it. I'll be out in just a minute."

" Fine. I will be outside." I growled. Muttering to myself about how annoying and airheaded Conjurers were, I stormed outside.


	16. Chapter 16: What's Wrong with Bat?

_Finally! I had time this weekend to work on chapter 16 and now I've got it done! Sorry it's been so long since my last update. I had to study for Regents, which are on Tuesday and Friday. I'm going to die._

" So . . . explain what's been going on with Bat." Tristan asked, examining my dragon's wing.  
>" When I got home today, she was the only one who responded. None of my other pets were around. When I asked her where everyone else was, she kept repeating 'Attack' over and over again. When I pulled out my wand in case of an intruder, she freaked out and attacked me. Her eyes were dull and creepy looking. It was like she was an animated dead thing."<p>

" Hmm . . . it sounds like she was reverse-imprinted on death wands and spells." The myth wizard said. I stared at him blankly. "Imprinting dragons is when you get them to like something so much, they start to act funny around that thing. It can also be done with other dragons, different animals, and even with humans or undead. Reverse-imprinting a dragon means that they have basically been programed to have an intense hatred or fear towards something, like-"  
>" Like death wands."<br>" Exactly. That would explain why she attacked you when you showed your wand. The cure for reverse-imprintation is a little tricky, and I can't reveal it to you. It's a Dragonspyrian secret."  
>" I <em>am<em> from Dragonspyre." I said flatly.  
>" But you're not a Dragon Mage like me and my parents. I can't tell you. Sorry. As for the words, I've never seen that before. The only ones who would know are my parents and the one who attacked her. Whoa!" He suddenly reeled backwards in shock, staring at Bat.<br>" What? What is it?"

" Look!" I leaned over and inspected Bat's wing. The entire end of it was shredded, and the wound was caked in dried black dragon blood.

" Oh my gosh, Bat! What happened to you?" I gasped in horror.  
>" Attack." She mumbled. I felt tears starting to form in my eyes. " That girl is going to be deader than a squished pixie when I get my hands on her." I snarled.<br>" I can't tell what did this, but it can't have been a wizard. No one is strong enough to do that."  
>" I know what happened." I spat. "Only an Ianthine Spectre can cause this kind of damage to a dragon's wings. The two species are deadly enemies, which is the only reason I didn't get an Ianthine Spectre pet. Moira must have one."<br>" Moira who?"  
>" Moonchaser. She attacked my house and stole Nightshade, Blackhope and Lenora. She and Malistaire are trying to turn them against Wizard City."<br>" Moira Moonchaser . . . I think I've heard of her. Yeah! I know her quite well, actually."  
>" WHAT!"<br>" She used to be a student at the Dragonspyre Acadamy Necromancy School. She was the top Necromancer, and after she surpassed the skill of the teacher, Ravina Blackwing, she left to find a 'more adept teacher,' as she said. Moira was always power-hungry. She was always impudent and disrespectful to everyone, even if they were more powerful than she. Rude, impolite, cocky, self-absorbed, thought she was the best thing the Spiral had ever been blessed with, and tough as nails to top it off."

" That explains that letter, then. What seal did she use on letters?"  
>" A black moon."<br>" It is her. Do you have any idea where she and Malistaire would hide?"  
>" Maybe. Why?"<br>" BECAUSE SHE IS TRYING TO DESTROY WIZARD CITY AND IF YOU DON'T TELL ME RIGHT NOW I WILL REARRANGE YOUR RUDE, STUCK UP LITTLE FACE, APPRENTICE!" I yelled.  
>" Sheesh, calm down already! Okay, I'll tell you: they would probably hang out in Dragonspyre, most likely around the dragons, since they're such a strong source of power. And . . . that is where the Dragon Titan sleeps. They most likely want him awake and on their side, because he's one of the strongest ancestors of magic."<br>" Where EXACTLY would they be in Dragonspyre?"  
>" The Dragon's Roost. It's completely off limits to everyone except-" But the Conjurer didn't have a chance to finish. I was already running towards the Commons.<br>" Bat! Come!" I called. My dragon flew over, and I leaped onto her back.  
>" She's not healed yet!"<br>" I need her anyways! I've got to bring her to someone who I can actually _trust_ to watch her while I take care of what I need to take care of!" I replied, flying up into the air. I landed in front of Destiny, who was reading in the Commons. "I need you to watch Bat, Destiny." I told her.  
>" Uh . . . Alex . . ."<br>" Alex**ANDRA**."  
>" I've kind of got stuff to do. I'm a little busy."<br>" And I'm trying to save the Spiral. I'm sorry about the short notice, but I'm on to something and I don't trust that MYTH APPRENTICE with her. Just . . . watch her closely and don't let her see anyone's wand. I'll be back when I can." I turned and ran towards the Headmaster's office. Destiny looked at Bat.  
>" Attack." The dragon said flatly.<br>" Great . . . "


	17. Chapter 17: The Spiral Door

_Yes, I know it's been over a week since my last update. I just took the Earth Science Regents Exam, and it was THE NUMBER ONE MOST BORING AND EASIEST SCIENCE TEST I HAVE EVER TAKEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. Seriously, I have NO IDEA why I was panicking so much. I was done in an hour and a half, and I had to SIT THERE in a BOILING HOT AUDITORIUM for another HOUR before the teachers let me leave. I have a feeling I AT LEAST passed, seeing how I checked over my answers about 20 billion times. Now I've just got Social Studies and Spanish, and then I'm done with tests for the year! Yay!_

I ran back to Ravenwood and entered the Spiral Chamber inside Bartleby. I pushed open the door and wished to go to Dragonspyre. Nothing happened. Confused, I tried it again. There were no results. I looked in the top of the door frame, where the Spiral Keys normally rested. All of the keys were gone. Krokotopia, Marleybone, Mooshu, Grizzleheim, Dragonspyre, Celestia, and Wintertusk were all gone." Moira." I muttered, closing the door. I teleported back to the Commons and ran to the Headmaster's office.

" You're back just in time, Alexandra." The Headmaster told me.  
>" Are you aware, sir, that EVERY SPIRAL KEY BESIDES WIZARD CITY IS CURRENTLY MISSING?"<p>

" What?"  
>" I was just heading to Dragonspyre to track down Moira, and when I tried to go through the Spiral Door, it didn't work. All seven of the keys are gone."<br>" This is not good at all. I believe that Malistaire and Moira wish to block all entry to other worlds, which will also keep you away from their hideout."  
>" Which, by the way, seems to be the Dragon's Roost in Dragonspyre, according to Tristan Legendsword."<br>" That sounds like a perfect hiding place for those two. We will have to get to work immediately on recovering the Spiral Keys, starting with Krokotopia and working our way up."  
>" Why not just go right for the Dragonspyre Key, go to Dragonspyre, and take out Moira?"<br>" If my research proves me correctly, Moira always enjoys making things difficult for others, but she needs to have things go in order."  
>" Meaning, she's O.C.D."<br>" Yes. Precisely. She will have confiscated each Spiral Key and hidden it in the world that comes before it."  
>" So . . . the Dragonspyre Spiral Key is in Mooshu."<br>" Correct. The Krokotopia Spiral Key should be somewhere in Wizard City. You and your friends should go search for it as soon as possible."  
>" Not all my friends. We're the best wizards in the entire city. If Moira's planning to unleash my corrupted pets on Wizard City, we can't leave it unguarded."<br>" But you will be searching here, will you not?"  
>" Yeah, I guess."<br>" Choose your strongest friends. You cannot have weaker wizards with you."  
>" Okay. I'll do that. When should I set out?"<br>" Immediately."  
>" Headmaster Ambrose! Headmaster Ambrose!" A messenger called, rushing into the room.<br>" What is it?"  
>" I bring news! A dark tower has just appeared in the Haunted Cave! No one knows what its purpose is, but a few guards went inside to investigate, and their bones were thrown back out a few minutes later!"<br>" A wraith is the only creature in existence that can strip another creature's bones clean in under an hour. Nightshade." I said darkly.  
>" You must go, Alexandra. The attack on Wizard City has begun. Good luck, and be careful."<br>" Whatever." I drew my wand and strode out of the building. I had a quest to plan and a wraith to capture-or destroy.

_If anyone can send me a description of what happens in Celestia, Grizzleheim, and Wintertusk, I would greatly appreciate it. My brother's subscription ran out before he could finish Celestia or Grizzleheim, and he never even got to Wintertusk. I just need a basic description of the main quest so I can possibly write those worlds into the story later. I might put them in the sequel instead, if I decide to do a sequel. Either way, help would be appreciated._


	18. Chapter 18: The Quest Begins

_Just a note: scarletfireblade, I need to know a few things before I can add your O.C. Please P.M. me or something so I can tell you what they are. Moving on . . ._

_FINALS ARE DONE! I have today to write as much as I wish, tomorrow I have to clean the house, and Thursday/Friday I am having my birthday party. Thursday's my last day of school, and after my party, I will have about a week to write before I go to my first week of camp. I will try to update at least once between that camp and my second week of camp, and then once between my third camp and my fourth camp. (I'm going straight from Camp Two to Camp Three, and I will not have access to a computer during either camp.) I will attempt to add some new O.C.'s this chapter, but no guarantees on that. Since it's been a few chapters . . ._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my O.C.'s. All other O.C.'s belong to their owners, everything else belongs to KingsIsle. Flames unwelcome (even from Pyromancers) but comments and constructive criticism are welcome._

" Ashley, Destiny, Heather, meet me in the Commons. I've got some bad news." I whispered to my friends. A minute later, the Life, Ice, and Myth wizards were standing in front of me.  
>" What is it, Alexandra?" Heather asked softly, her eyes wide with concern.<br>" Malistaire has kidnapped three of my pets, attacked Bat, and is beginning to attack Wizard City, using my pets, whom he corrupted. We have to stop them. I want you guys to come with me."  
>" Why us?"<br>" You're the most powerful, and with you along, we can use Boost damage against at least half of the enemies we meet."  
>" Why don't you bring Donna, Brooke, Evan and Erica, too? They're strong, and that way we can Boost any kind of enemy at all." Ashley suggested. I nodded.<br>" That's a good idea. I'll ask them." I whispered the request to my other four friends, and they agreed.  
>" So, where to first?" Destiny asked.<br>" Unicorn Way."  
>" What! That place is for NOVICES and APPRENTICES, not LEGENDARIES!"<br>" We start at the beginning and work our way up. We have to find all of my pets and defeat them, not just the powerful ones. Come on. We've got a battle to fight. Or maybe multiple battles." Grumbling, Donna stomped off towards the street. We followed. Despite being a Novice level street, Unicorn Way was beautiful. The park was empty of undead. The only people around were Private Connely, Ceren Nightchant, Olivia Dawnwillow, and Diego the Duelmaster. Brooke, whose favorite pastime was dueling, waved to the unicorn. He waved back.  
>" Seems pretty peaceful. Are you sure there's trouble here, Alexandra?" Erica asked.<br>" Trust me, I know Malistaire. In games we used to play, he would always use strength against the weakest first, and then go for the stronger later. He will have something going on in Unicorn Way." I replied. My statement was proved correct when we heard someone yell,

" HELP!"  
>" Tower." I said shortly, nodding towards the nearby tower. I drew my wand and ran towards the building. My friends were right behind me. Inside the tower, a tall girl dressed in red, gold, orange and yellow was trapped against the wall by a familiar looking ghost. " Blackhope! BAD ghost! Get over here right now!" I yelled. She turned. My pet's eyes were no longer dull and uncaring. They were bright, and there was an evil spark around her.<p>

" I take orders only from Malistaire, girl."  
>" Don't you remember me, Blackhope! I'm Alexandra, your owner!" I pleaded.<br>" It's LADY Blackhope now, Necromancer. I serve Malistaire and Moira. Prepare to fall!" She entered a dueling circle, followed by a skeletal pirate.  
>" Donna, Destiny, Ashley. She's a Life pet, but she always took interest in Ice, like I do. The pirate is Death." I whispered. The three wizards followed me into the circle. Unfortunately for us, LADY Blackhope was chosen to go first. I was expecting either a one-pip novice spell or a pass. I was NOT prepared for a centaur to fire an arrow at me.<p>

" What! That's a Grandmaster spell!" Destiny gasped. I glared at my former pet.  
>" So. You've been trained to cheat. Very bad taste in corrupters, Blackhope." The ghost smirked. The skeletal pirate played a banshee on Destiny, who flinched but didn't move." The both of you, cheaters! How disgraceful." I said in a mock disapproving tone. I drew my seven cards and inspected them. Wraith, ghoul, feint, poison, banshee, vampire, and death trap. I could have played death trap to boost my next spell, but instead I played poison on Lady Blackhope, making use of my two power pips. My fighting style was to hit as hard as I could, take out the enemy quickly, and suffer the consequences of not shielding. The ghost shuddered and groaned. Based on how much life had gone out of her circle when I played poison, I assumed that her health would be about half gone when poison was complete. (It was a three round spell that did 40 damage at first, and over three rounds did 435 more damage.) Destiny, who was second, played seraph on the skeleton, Ashley played evil snowman on the skeleton, and Donna, who was grinning cheerfully for some reason, played sunbird on Lady Blackhope. The skeleton collapsed in a pile of bones, and my pet's health was nearly gone. The poison killed Lady Blackhope before she had a chance to cast a spell.<br>" NOOOOO!" She wailed, melting into the floor. I immediately dropped to my knees, staring blankly at my hands. My wand slipped out of my grasp, and I watched it roll across the floor.  
>" Are you okay, Alexandra?" Destiny asked. I shrugged.<br>" I just killed my own pet. The pet you gave me, Ashley. She was dead to begin with, and now she's gone completely."

" It's okay. She was evil." Ashley told me.  
>" No. She wasn't evil. She was corrupted by my father and by Moira. Blackhope was a good pet. She didn't act up or anything. She was smart and well behaved and helpful when I needed her . . ." My voice faltered, and I stopped speaking.<br>" That monster was your PET!" A voice said. I turned. It was the girl we had rescued.  
>" She was <em>not<em> a monster. Yes, Blackhope was my pet." I told her flatly.  
>" Oh. Well, thanks for saving me, I guess." She sounded reluctant to thank me.<br>" You're welcome, I _guess_." Ashley replied sarcastically.

" Hi, I'm Donna Dragonflame! What's your name? Are you a Pyromancer like me? What level are you? I'm a Legendary Pyromancer. Your firecat is cute. What's his name?"

" This will be a while." Destiny whispered to me. A faint smile appeared on my lips as I listened to Donna talk and watched the other girl stare at her in disbelief.

_I'll put in the new O.C.'s name next chapter. If you've read the reviews, you should know who she is. After next chapter, I'm going to put in a short chapter with a description of my other O.C.s. I didn't really find anywhere to put some of the important stuff in, so that's where it will be._


	19. Chapter 19: Unicorn Way

When we finally got Donna to shut up, the Pyromancer we had rescued managed to introduce herself as Scarlet Ashblade, an 18 year old apprentice Pyromancer. She kept shooting me nervous glances, like I was going to attack her or something.

" What have you got against me?" I finally asked.  
>" What do you mean?"<br>" I mean, you've been looking at me like I'm going to eat you or something, whenever I talk to you, you respond sarcastically, and you just seem to not like me. Why is that?"  
>" I hate the undead, and you, as a Necromancer, use the undead as power." Scarlet told me simply.<br>" Well, it's not exactly my fault that I'm a Necromancer. I just answered the questions Ambrose gave me, and that's what I turned out to be."  
>" I don't think you're really being fair to Alexandra. She's very brave and powerful, and even if she DOES use undead to fight, I've never seen them backfire on her. She can always control the spells." Destiny told her.<br>" Except for the fact that her pet just ATTACKED ME!" Scarlet had gone too far. My face went red.  
>" THAT WAS BECAUSE MOIRA KIDNAPPED AND CORRUPTED HER! I DIDN'T PURPOSELY MAKE HER GO EVIL, AND IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT GIRL SHE WOULD NEVER HAD TURNED EVIL!" I yelled. Scarlet seemed terrified to be facing an angry Legendary Necromancer, and for once, I was glad. I was glad to make someone squirm in discomfort at the sight of me. I could usually deal with taunts about being creepy and evil looking, and even taunts about being Malistaire's adopted daughter, but insulting Blackhope for being corrupted was too much.<br>" Alexandra, stop that! You're even starting to creep ME out!" Ashley told me. I noticed that a black glow had begun to radiate from me. Exactly like Malistaire. I forced myself to calm down, and the glow disappeared.  
>" Scarlet, you should return to the Commons and stay there until it's safe. Malistaire is trying to take over, and Unicorn Way will be dangerous for a while." Erica told the Pyromancer gently. Scarlet nodded.<br>" Bye, and thanks again!" She called over her shoulder as she ran from the tower. " Where to next, Alex?" Brooke asked.  
>" AlexANDRA. We should look to see if there are any other enemies on Unicorn Way, and then we should head to Olde Town."<br>" Sounds good."  
>" Let's go!" We left Lady Blackhope's tower, but not before I had a chance to set a black rose on a table.<br>" Goodbye, Blackhope." I whispered.  
>The rest of Unicorn Way was moderately safe. We had to drive out some skeletal pirates and some lost souls, but that took us approximately three seconds. Olde Town was where we split up.<br>" If we split into groups of two, we can take care of the three streets faster." I decided.  
>" Firecat Alley and Cyclops Lane first?" Heather suggested.<br>" Yeah! I can't wait to kick out all the bad guys from my street!" Donna laughed, jumping up and down and clapping her hands. I gave her a funny look.  
>" Donna, Brooke, Destiny and I will go to Cyclops Lane. Ashley, Erica, Evan and Heather can go to Firecat Alley." I said.<br>" That works."  
>" Come on, come on, come on! Let's go kick some cyclops butt!" Donna sang, skipping towards the first street. I followed her. Destiny and Brooke weren't far behind.<p>

_Yes, I left out about half of Unicorn Way. What did you want me to do? It's a novice street, and a boring one at that. Here's the titles of the next three chapters:_

_20: O.C. Files 21: Cyclops Lane 22: Firecat Alley-Erica's P.O.V._


	20. Chapter 20: Cyclops Lane

_I'm so happy! School's over, and I got an award signed by Obama! Although, I DID manage to COMPLETELY FORGET to copy all of my about 20 power points that I made onto my flash drive, so now they've all been deleted, courtesy of my ever-so-nice school district which finds it necessary to delete ALL OF YOUR FILES when school's out. It took me over 3 HOURS to make those power points, and I spent even more time finding all the words to put in them! (They were power points I was using to help me learn Sindarian faster.) Oh, well. I guess I'll just have to remake them at home. ANYWAYS . . ._

_Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing but my O.C.s. KingsIsle owns Wizard101 and all the locations, characters, spells, etc. O.C. owners own their O.C.s. HAH! Now you can't sue me!_

I followed Brooke, Destiny and Donna down Cyclops Lane. We were searching for clues that would lead us to Nightshade, Lenora, or any other villains that needed squashing. I was hoping that we'd run into Moira so I could pound her into dust, but there was no trace of her. If she was as smart as she seemed, the Necromancer would stay low until it was absolutely necessary for her to fight me.

" So . . . what should we do?" Destiny asked. I shrugged.

" Why don't we go talk to that guard?" Brooke suggested, pointing towards a Fairgrounds-like area. A uniformed guard stood near the path.

" Hi! Are there any bad guys you need us to beat up?" Donna asked the guard.  
>" Hello, there, young wizards. If you're looking for something to do, you could help clear out these trolls. They've taken over the street, and no one can leave their homes without being attacked."<br>" We're not exactly on a quest for experience. We're looking for a dark sprite named Lenora, a wraith named Nightshade, or an albino Necromancer named Moira Moonchaser. They're a danger to the Spiral. Have you seen them anywhere?"  
>" No, I don't think so. I am very sorry, but if I see them, I will send news to you. Who should I have the messenger find?"<br>" Alexandra Firesong." I told him.  
>" I will do that."<p>

" And we'll see if we can do anything about your troll issue." We walked into the park area. A boy dressed in yellow and dark blue was standing near one of the tents, looking through his notebook. I walked over to him.  
>" Have you seen a dark sprite, a wraith, or an albino Necromancer anywhere around here?" I asked in a low tone.<br>" Whoa! You scared me! Nah, I haven't seen anyone, just a bunch of wizards who were so bad at fighting they got themselves captured by General Akilles."  
>" Wonderful, you're just as air headed and rude as the other Conjurers." Brooke groaned.<p>

" Where is this 'General Akilles?'" I asked.  
>" End of the street."<br>" Thanks." We left the park area before Brooke could insult the boy further. "Brooke, why don't you start helping with the troll problem?"  
>" Alone?"<br>" You ARE strong enough to take them on, right?"  
>" Of course I am! I'll meet up with you guys later." She pulled a small figurine out of her backpack and set it on the ground. It grew into her Swift Shark, Storm. She mounted the shark and rode off towards the troll-infested part of the street.<br>" So, we're tracking down the general and freeing those wizards?" Destiny asked. I nodded.  
>" Let's go. The students could be in danger, and seeing how this is an apprenticejourneyman street, that's probably what they are." We ran towards the end of Cyclops Lane. Inside the tower, we saw two huge cyclops walking around in front of an iron bar wall. Behind the wall stood three terrified looking students: a Diviner, a Pyromancer, and a Thaumaturge.

" How'd you get in here?" The general roared.

" We are Legendary wizards, and we've come to free those students." I growled, drawing my wand. I stepped forwards and entered the dueling circle. Destiny and Donna joined me. "Do you dare challange us?"  
>" OF COURSE I DARE!" The cyclops yelled, entering the circle opposite me. My team was chosen to go first. I drew my seven cards.<br>" Lovely." I groaned.  
>" Bad hand?"<br>" You could say that." I had two ghouls, a dream shield, a death blade, a feint, a pacify, and an animate. I chose animate. Since I only had two power pips, I got a ghoulish retainer. It wasn't strong, but it could be a bit of help, casting death blade, death trap, vampire, fire elf, weakness, and plague. Destiny played nature's wrath, and Donna played meteor strike, which killed the second cyclops. General Akilles was about 3/4 of the way dead. The ghoulish retainer played plague. The cyclops played a troll on Donna, who whimpered in pain. The next round, I recieved a power pip and cast my ghoul. After Destiny's leprechaun, the general's health ran out, and the iron wall lifted.

" Thank you so much!" The Diviner girl said, grinning.  
>" Go back to the Commons and stay there until it's safe here. The enemies are getting stronger, and there's a killing wraith on the loose." I instructed the three apprentices.<p>

" Okay, we will! And thanks again!"

_Yep. I skipped about half the story again. It's been AGES since I played that place, and it takes too much time to write out each individual part of the storyline. Besides, I don't want to be one of those people who basically just turns the game into a story, writing each and every exact line and quest and all that stuff. That's why I started the story BEFORE Malistaire took over, and that's also why Alexandra's not a wizard from Earth._


	21. Chapter 21: Firecat Alley

_This chapter is in Erica Bluestone's point of view, since Alexandra isn't present for Firecat Alley. P.S. Have you ever read Abracadoodle? It's HILARIOUS! I haven't played Firecat Alley in forever, so I probably have all the details wrong. I"m using a google images map and wizard101 wiki for most of my information._

I led my friends towards Firecat Alley.  
>" How will we know if Lenora or Nightshade or Moira is there?" Ashley asked.<p>

" I don't know. I guess we should just ask around." I responded, looking sideways at the other Thaumaturge. "Evan, use your Necromancy deck. Pyromancy won't be very helpful on Firecat Alley."

" I'll do that." I glanced down at the Frostwood Sword I carried. I hadn't used it in nearly a year due to all my book-studying. I hoped I hadn't forgotten how to duel. To keep focused on important things, I thought about which pet I should bring into battle. I had gotten Snowstorm most recently, only two weeks ago, in fact. However, I had taken a temporary break from studying and had trained him to Epic. Icicle and Frost had been Epic for a few months already. Icicle, my snow serpent, was out. His card was frost snake, which did 80 Ice damage and +30% damage to my next Ice spell. It was helpful, but I wanted the strongest card I had. I debated between Ancient Wyvern and Colossus. Ancient Wyvern did 80 Ice damage at first, and then did 600 Ice damage over three rounds. Colossus did 600 to 680 Ice damage. Both spells were six pips and did the same amount of damage. They were also the same accuracy, 80%. I decided on Frost, since he was my older pet and his spell fizzled less. Evan had equipped his jade oni, which was his only non-fire pet, and he was carrying his Necromancy deck. Heather had her Orthrus pet, Hestia.

" Who should we talk to first?" The Conjurer asked softly.

" Gretta Darkkettle. She knows EVERYTHING that's going on in Firecat Alley." Evan immediately responded.

" She's that creepy old alchemist, right?"

" Yep." We headed towards Gretta's house. Inside, the old woman dressed in black was sitting in a chair, staring at a book in her hands. She looked up when we entered.

" Well, if it isn't Evan Starblade. Who are your friends?"

" Hello, Gretta. This is Erica Bluestone, Ashley Spellsword, and Heather Rosegem. Have you seen a dark sprite, a wraith, or an albino Necromancer running around anywhere?"

" I don't believe so, sorry. Why?"

" The sprite and wraith are pets of my friend's that have been kidnapped, and the Necromancer is the one responsible for turning them evil. We need to track down the three of them before they can do any damage to Wizard City."

" Go talk to Private Quinn. He's not far from here. I don't leave this house much, but he should know something."

" Okay. Thank you, Gretta."

" Any time, Evan." The four of us departed for Private Quinn's post near the Firecat Statue. The thing was almost twenty feet tall and carved entirely from stone. It was an almost perfect image of a firecat, and it was the number one tourist attraction on the street. I had only seen it once before. Near the statue stood a uniformed guard: Private Quinn.

" Hello, there, young wizards! Could you give me a hand?" He called to us.

" What do you need?"

" I am very good friends with the Fire Elves, and they visit me every day. However, today I haven't seen a single elf. I'm starting to get a little nervous. Could you go see if they're okay?"

" Sure. No problem. Let's go, guys." We headed towards the main part of the street. The private was worried with good reason. There were four Fire Elves attacking a girl about 14. She looked like a Thaumaturge, from the color of her robes, and judging on the style I guessed that she was adept.

" Come on. We should help her. Evan, stay on the sidelines." I called over my shoulder, running towards the battle.

" Thanks. These Fire Elves are a lot tougher than I remember." The girl said as I joined the battle.

" I think it's got something to do with a problem my friends and I are investigating." I replied, unsheathing my sword and drawing seven cards. I chose to play blizzard, and I watched as the girl played an evil snowman.

" I'm Madison Iceflower, by the way. Level 24 Thaumaturge."

" I'm Erica Bluestone, level 60 Ice. These are my friends Ashley and Heather, both level 60. Ashley's Ice and Heather is Myth. The boy standing on the sidewalk is Evan Starblade, level 60 Pyromancer."

" Wow. You're Legendaries?"

" Yep." We stopped talking as Heather played cyclops and Ashley played storm shark. Madison hadn't been kidding when she said that the Fire Elves were more powerful than usual. They had become cheaters. The first one played IFREET, of all spells! A LEGENDARY RANK EIGHT PIP SPELL! From a FIRE ELF! I was shocked. Madison's health was down to 3/4's of the way full, and there were still three more Fire Elves.

" It's got to be one of the pets or Moira." Heather said quietly.

" No kidding." I replied, wincing as the second elf played a phoenix on me. I couldn't resist it much, being an Ice wizard. The third elf played a meteor strike, and the fourth passed.

" We could use Destiny right now." Ashley said.

" She's busy now. We'll have to pull an Alexandra."

" What's that mean?" Madison asked.

" Alexandra Firesong, one of our friends, is a Legendary Necromancer who's strategy is to hit her enemies as hard as she can and ignore all healing spells, shields, blades, everything. She uses all the pips she has at one time to try and knock out her enemies. If we do the same, we can take out the Fire Elves quickly. We should all target the first elf, and once he's dead, the next, and so on. If you have a spell to target all of them, use it."

" Got it." I gained a power pip and used it to cast snow serpent. Madison cast a thunder snake with her normal pip, Ashley crossed her fingers and cast insane bolt. It could do either 1,000 damage to the enemy, or it could do 10,000 damage to her, meaning we would have an unconscious friend. Luckily, it killed the Fire Elf rather than her. Heather's spell was passed, and we waited for the opposing side's attacks. Two fire dragons and a meteor strike later, we were still alive. Pretty banged up, but alive. Madison and I both passed, Ashley played a snow serpent, and Heather played humongofrog, killing the second and third elf. The fourth elf passed. " Don't kill him, just make him lose. I need to talk to him." I instructed Madison. She nodded and played frost beetle. The elf was quickly knocked unconscious, and when the dueling circle disappeared, I dragged him to the sidewalk. He woke with a blast of frozen air to the face.

" EEK!" The Fire Elf screeched when he saw that he was surrounded.

" You are going to talk, elf. Who gave you the power to cheat, and who gave you that much help?"

" L-lady Lenora!" He squeaked.

" What did she look like?"

" Dark sprite! Promised that me and my people would be safe if we helped her!"

" She was lying. Her plan was to kill you off when you were no longer needed. Go explain that to the other Fire Elves, and warn them that if they don't stop attacking people, a group of Legendaries will hunt them down and put a stop to their behavior. Am I very clear?"

" Yes, miss! I will do that immediately!"

" Good." I released him, and he ran.

" So . . . Lenora is here, then?"

" It seems like it. Madison, you should return to the Commons. It isn't safe here any longer. Once we hunt down Lenora, Nightshade, and Moira Moonchaser, this place should be safer again."

" Okay. I'll warn the other wizards not to come here. Thanks for the help."

" No problem. See you around."

" Bye." The Thaumaturge disappeared in a cloud of holographic snowflakes.

" We need to tell Alexandra that Lenora is here. She will probably want to help fight her. Maybe this time, she can convince her to return to our side." Heather suggested quietly. I nodded and whispered the news to the Necromancer.

" _I will be there as soon as possible._" She replied.

" She's coming." I informed my friends.

" Wait . . . the prince cannot be reached by that Fire Elf. We will have to deliver the message ourselves." Evan told me.

" The prince?"

" Prince Alicane Swiftarrow. He is inside Globe Theater, and that Fire Elf isn't going to be let in. I doubt he'll even try to gain entry."

" Oh, so in other words, we have to go fight the prince."

" Exactly. Let's go." We ran towards the theater. Inside the Globe Theater, the prince of the Fire Elves stood on a stage, surrounded by three magma men.

" We're dead."

" No, we're Legendaries. Three magma men and a stuck-up Fire Elf prince can't stop us. Come on, scaredy cat." I used one of my potions and entered the dueling circle.

" Prince Swiftarrow, if you don't stop attacking people, you will wish you hadn't crossed us."

" No one can defeat me with Lady Lenora's power! Prepare to die!" I drew seven cards and inspected the health circles of my opponents. The prince had about 6,000 health, and the magma men had around 2,000.

" This is nuts!" I muttered to myself. I had snow angel in my deck, an eight pip, level 60 Ice spell that did 760 Ice damage over time and taunted all enemies. I also had two power pips, meaning I needed four more pips to cast the snow angel. I decided to save for it and cast a few blades and traps. I started with an ice blade on myself. "Snow angel in a few turns!" I announced.

" I've got colossus." Ashley told me.

" Heather, Evan? Any good spells?"

" I've got scarecrow."

" And I have orthrus."

" Good. Save your pips and cast blades and traps and things of that nature on the prince. We take him out first. Evan, cast traps on the magma men, too, if you have enough pips and enough time."

" I think I do." He said, inspecting his seven cards. Ashley played an ice blade, Heather cast a myth blade, and Evan cast a death blade. The prince played meteor strike, and the magma men each played inferno kraken. I gained another power pip.

" Either next turn or two turns from now."

" I have enough this turn. Do you have an ice trap for him?"

" Yep." I played the ice trap, and Ashley played her colossus. Heather played a myth trap. Evan's jade oni played another myth trap, and Evan played a death trap. The next turn, I had my last power pip. I cast the snow angel. Ashley passed, Heather played Orthrus, and Evan played his scarecrow. A few rounds later, the prince and his three magma men were unconscious on the ground, and we were mostly alive still.

" _How are you guys doing?_" Alexandra whispered.

" _We just beat Prince Alicane Swiftarrow. He and his three magma men were cheaters, and they half killed us. How about you guys?_"

" _General Akilles was a pushover._"

" _Lucky you. We're going to question the prince about Lenora's whereabouts, and then we'll meet you somewhere and go fight her."_

"_ Sounds good, I guess._"  
>The prince quickly told us where Lenora was hiding: inside the tower of a person called "Bastilla Gravewynd." The tower was apparently very close by. I whispered the location to Alexandra, who identified Bastilla as a banshee with a Fire Elf as a helper. There would most likely be three there, and after defeating Bastilla, we would find Lenora one floor above.<p>

" _Alexandra, stay on the side this time. She's death, so she won't be easy for you to defeat. Destiny, Ashley, Brooke and I will fight her._"

" _Got it. Just as long as I help to stop Lenora._"

" _That's fine._" Alexandra, Brooke, Destiny and Donna met us outside Bastilla's tower.

" Are you guys ready?" The Necromancer asked.

" As ready as we will be. Come on. We've got a fairy to find."

" Dark sprite."

" Close enough."

_This chapter stank. I know it stank. I was rushing through it because a) I was bored of writing Fire Elf vs. Erica, Ashley, Evan and Heather scenes, b) I have Writer's Block, and c) because I prefer writing from Alexandra's P.O.V. and writing as Erica is hard, for some bizarre, unknown reason. This might be my last update for a few weeks. I'm going to camp on the third of July. In addition, I am fully aware of the fact that I did not follow the storyline of Firecat Alley at ALL. My reason is the same as the last chapter. Thanks to 105maddie105 for submitting Madison Iceflower. There are two more O.C.'s I have yet to put into my story. I'm just waiting for the right spot to put them in, but they will join the story at some part. I think that's it. Navaer. (Sindarin for "Farewell")_


	22. Chapter 22: The Tower of Bastilla

_**A/N: **__I'm back! This will definitely be my last post until after I'm back from my first week of camp, because I am writing this at almost 7:00 p.m. and I have just been informed that I have to go to my cousin's wedding tomorrow at about 12:30. Seriously, about an hour ago, my mom told me "Oh, by the way, your cousin's wedding is tomorrow." I am not very pleased with that. I would write in the morning, but I am a night owl and my usual wake up time is around 10 a.m. Moving on . . ._

_We're back in Alexandra's P.O.V. now. _

[ ::: ]_ Ice cream sandwiches to all my reviewers. :) (I figured that ice cream sandwiches are better suited to the weather than cookies)_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my O.C.'s, of which I have too many. (Is that sentence grammatically correct?) O.C. owners own their O.C.s (Hey, I made a tongue-twister! I didn't know I could do that!) and KingsIsle owns everything else.**_

I stared up at the tower of Bastilla Gravewynd. Somewhere up there was my dark sprite, Lenora, who had apparently gone the same way as Blackhope: cheating, calling herself a 'lady,' and trying to take over a street.

"Are you okay, Alexandra?" Destiny asked. I nodded. 

"Yeah. Fine. Come on. We've got to hurry and track down Moira before she does any more damage to this city." I stepped forwards and pushed open the door. Inside, seated at a table, was a ghost-like woman with blue hair and a magenta robe. She seemed to be studying something intently, and didn't hear us approach. I silently approached her, drew my athame, and plunged it into her heart. She shrieked in agony and spun around to face me. 

"How DARE you?" She howled, ripping the athame from her back. I recognized her as a banshee. My athame attack hadn't killed her, for she was Undead, and therefore was resistant to physical attacks. Only magic would kill her. 

"Bastilla Gravewynd. I always knew you to be a mischief-maker, but I never took you for 'evil.' What happened to you?" 

"I met Lady Lenora, that's what! You should not have come here, student of death! I may have honored you once, but no more! You will not pass this way!" I ran backwards to avoid the dueling circle, which Destiny, Erica, Ashley and Brooke entered. I clenched my fists and stared at the banshee, wishing I could fight her myself, but knowing that death wouldn't be helpful in fighting her.

_**A/N: I am skipping the battle 'cuz I'm out of battle ideas temporarily. I will go watch the Battle of Helm's Deep (Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, my favorite part of the movie) to try and get some ideas. I know that it's swords and archery rather than magic, but they're both styles of fighting so it counts.**_

Bastilla was defeated within two minutes. She had cheated, but seeing how she had no "friends" to help her out, she was easy for my friends to defeat. 

"Next stop, Lenora's floor." Ashley said. I nodded. 

"Any idea what school she would be a part of?" 

"Ironically, she's the school of Life. She wanted to be able to heal me in battle, so she learned a few Life spells. Her secondary school is Ice." 

"So Ashley and I are out. Donna, Evan, and-" 

"Not me." Destiny interrupted Erica. 

"Why not? You're our only healer!" 

"I'm also Life. All I would be able to do would be healing, and healing isn't helpful against a cheating boss. You need someone stronger." 

"Okay. Lenora generally liked to hang out with pets from the Myth school while we were in the Pet Plaza, so I'm guessing she's got a few Myth friends helping her out. Brooke, can you help us out?" I asked the Diviner. She nodded. "Then let's get going. Lenora will already know we're here, and she might flee the tower if we don't hurry." I picked up my athame from the floor and put it into my backpack. My friends and I started up the stairs to Lenora's floor. 

"I have been expecting you, Alex." The dark sprite said, smirking at me. 

"I am no longer Alex, just as I hear that you are no longer Lenora." I replied coldly. 

"Ah, you've heard of my title. Don't worry, it was not self-appointed. Lord Malistaire has named me one of his most powerful allies, and therefore I am worthy of the title 'Lady Lenora.'"

"So, you believed him? I thought you had learned better from watching my strategy games, Lenora. Never-" 

"-trust the most powerful of the enemy if they offer you power. Yes, I remember. However, I believe that Lord Malistaire speaks the truth. He DID help you to care for me when I was only an insignificant, weak, unworthy pet who could not speak." I detected a hint of anguish in her voice. 

"So you joined him because you wanted power. So cliché. If you had wanted to become more powerful, you should have just told me. I could have taught you more." 

"You would not have chosen to, however. I was insignificant in your eyes. A simple PET. Pets do not deserve nor require power. All they are good for is helping their master." She sounded almost sorrowful and regretful. 

"You felt insignificant? Lenora, I always saw my pets as equals, as worthy as anyone else to learn."

"And yet I was still carried around in a backpack, not worthy of my own dueling circle. I had to share one with you, not free to cast my own spells!" 

"Why didn't you just ASK? The Headmaster told me that when pets of Legendaries like me became Epics, they were allowed to become free moving creatures, allowed to use their own dueling circles or go where they wished!" 

"And you would not have let me! Alexandra, I am done being a worthless pet! I am my own master now, and you cannot change that fact! Face me and learn what I have become!" I stepped forwards into the dueling circle, followed by Donna, Evan, and Brooke. I had guessed correctly. Lenora's minions were three trolls. Lenora immediately cast a forest lord on me. I flinched. 

"You, too, have become a cheater. Why can't you just fight fairly?" 

"If I fight you fairly, I will be overpowered in an instant. I have been taught by Lord Malistaire and Lady Moira to do whatever is necessary to defend myself and complete my task." She shrugged almost apologetically. The trolls cast a minotaur, a cyclops, and a blood bat. I chose to do something I almost never did: I passed. In my deck was a skeletal dragon. I didn't want to hurt Lenora, but I had no choice. The dragon would be the fastest way to victory. My three friends also passed. 

"Do you three have good cards?" I whispered. They nodded. "I've got the top spell. I guess I'll have to cast it." Three rounds later, I cast the dragon. Donna chose Efreet, Evan played fire dragon, and Brooke cast leviathan. The trolls were dead, and Lenora was left on her own. She cast a frost giant in an attempt to stop us, but it fizzled due to her lack of concentration, and she collapsed in submission. My sprite knew when she was defeated. I looked at her health circle. She had only 100 health left, and I had a death sword card that could do 110 damage. With some difficulty, I cast it. My wand transformed into a death sword, and I stepped forwards. "Lenora, please . . . I don't want to do this. Join our side again. I promise I won't take away your power, and you'll be treated just the same as the rest of us." I pleaded. She smiled a wry grin. 

"It's too late for me, Alexandra. You've broken the corrupting spell, but I can't come back now. It's too late." 

"If you're willing to return to my side, I will heal you." The sprite shook her head. 

"No. Just- just do it. Kill me. I can't return." She locked eyes with me. "Defeat Malistaire for me, okay?" I nodded, feeling tears form in my eyes for the second time. Lenora squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself. Shakily, I raised my sword and stabbed her. She gasped in pain one last time, and her heart stopped. 

"Why?" I whispered, staring at the dark sprite's lifeless body. "Why? Moira, Malistaire, why?"

_**A/N: **__And that is it! I will write the next chapter at camp, but until I get back, I will torture you with my fail attempt at a cliffhanger. Mwahaha. If you can't tell, I watched the sad part of the Helm's Deep battle one too many times before writing the death of Lenora. I won't say it and spoil it for those of you who haven't seen the movie yet. Next chapter will be up soon!_


	23. Chapter 23: Triton Avenue

_I am back from camp! I finally am back in a house with air conditioning and a shower and a bed that isn't hard as a rock and tiny! I have to admit, though, camp was fun. I shot five bull's eyes in two days, two of which were right in a row! I'm so proud of myself right now. That's after only two weeks of archery, one of which was last year. :) :) :) :) :) :) I'm going to the next camp tomorrow at 8 O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING! That means I have to get up at 7! I am going to die from lack of sleep. Blah. Oh, well. I will attempt to not die before I finish my story. Anyways, here's chapter 24._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing, KingsIsle owns everything except for my ice cream sandwich. [ ::: ] THEY'RE SO YUMMY!_

I stared at the ground as we walked from Bastilla's tower. My friends were talking to me, but I couldn't hear them. Lenora was dead. I had killed her. I had killed Blackhope, too. Would I have to kill Nightshade, too?  
>" Alexandra, we're at Triton Avenue. You might want to pay attention now." Erica told me gently. I nodded, not paying much attention. I watched where I was going, mostly following my friends. When we were almost to the portal leading to the storm mill, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I spun around and drew my wand, all in one lightening fast movement. The young female Diviner standing in front of me looked frightened.<br>" Who are you and what do you want?" I snarled.  
>" Alexandra, calm down." Brooke told me, stepping forwards. " Hi, Susie. Is everything going okay?"<br>" No . . . my brother has disappeared."  
>" Artur Gryphonbane?"<br>" Yes."  
>" Hm. He doesn't seem like the type to run off. Where did you last see him?"<br>" He went into the Haunted Cave. I asked if I could go with him, but he said that it was too dangerous."  
>" Hm . . . that doesn't sound good. We'll go investigate. By the way, have you seen a wraith around here anywhere?"<br>" I think so. There was a scary looking albino girl talking to one near the entrance to the Haunted Cave. She disappeared just before Artur arrived. I was waiting for him there."  
>" Moira and Nightshade." I growled.<br>" Thanks, Susie. We'll find Artur, don't worry." We left, heading towards the cave.  
>" It's got to be them." Erica stated as we ran through the street. I nodded in agreement.<br>" I'm just warning you now, I am fighting Moira alone. She has taken too much from me, and my revenge must be mine alone."  
>" We won't leave you alone to get killed, Alexandra!"<br>" I won't get killed. I am the most powerful Necromancer in the Spiral. Malistaire himself couldn't beat me in a duel. Believe me, he's tried, and I beat him. Moira will be easy."  
>" But Moira was trained by Ravina Blackwing, the best known Necromancer in Dragonspyre. There's no telling what Ravina knew that Malistaire didn't."<br>" Trust me, Ravina didn't know THAT much more than Malistaire, if she knew more at all. Moira is going down." I stopped speaking abruptly as a shadow fell over me. We had arrived at the Haunted Cave.

_Sorry it's so short, but I have to go finish packing for Camp Two. (That's not its real name, by the way.) I changed my mind about Colossus Boulevard. I'm not going to bother writing it. The journeymen can deal with the gobblers, and Alexandra and her friends have to chase Malistaire to Krokotopia. Also, Artur was kidnapped by Nightshade rather than by the Harvest Lord. Less work for me. Next update will be in two weeks, sooner if I can get on a computer with internet access before then. Please review! Comments and constructive criticism welcome, flames never. _


	24. Chapter 24: The Haunted Cave

_Now that I am done with my four camps (which were amazing, I must say) I can get back to work on my fanfics. In case you haven't heard, I started a new story, which is called The Hijacking to Neverland. I wrote down the first two chapters of it during Camp Four. I've been brainstorming chapter 25 for the past few days, and I finally have an idea for it. :) Moving on . . ._

_Disclaimer: Read my past disclaimers; I've got enough of them. Ooh, an ice cream sandwich . . ._

" The Haunted Cave." Brooke said, staring up at the top of the entrance. It was at least ten feet above our heads. I looked around for a minute, searching for clues. The first thing I found was a broken wand.

" Brooke, you know Artur, right?" I asked.  
>" Yeah, why?"<br>" Does this look familiar?" I showed her the wand.  
>" Yes . . . that's his wand. He must have gotten attacked and lost. He's probably in captivity right now. We've got to find him before something happens!"<br>" Keep your hat on. We'll find him." I growled, continuing my search. Taped to the side of the cave was an envelope. On the front was my name, and on the back was a black moon. Moira's seal. I opened the envelope.  
>" What's that?" Destiny asked.<br>" Letter from Moira. I'll read it out loud. 'Dear Alexandra, I see you have found out where your last pet is. You were correct in guessing that your darling little Nightshade has been causing all the trouble here, and I have recently visited with him. He's got your electricity girl's boyfriend locked up nice and tight in his tower, and he won't be giving him up for any price. You'll have to kill him in order to get Artie Phoenixboy back. Oh, and so sorry about your ghost and your sprite. From what I hear, someone made them lose their loyalty to you, and you had to finish them off. Such a shame. Ah, well. I'll be seeing you soon! Keep up the good work! Signed, M.M.' I'm gonna kill her."

" He's not my boyfriend! And why does that girl find it necessary to call me ELECTRICITY GIRL!" Brooke yelled. Electricity Girl/ Boy was one of the highest insults to a Diviner.  
>" She's a . . . a VERY NOT NICE WORD." I spat. "Get yourselves in gear. We're going after that girl and I am going to skin her alive." I strode ahead into the cave. Surprisingly, the Haunted Cave wasn't all that dark, just creepy and musty. I would have loved it, had I not been out to murder someone. I could see the dark tower at the opposite end of the street, and the sight of it just made me angrier: the flag at the top was a silver banner with a black moon. A few field guards were blocking the bridge to the island.<br>" Halt. No one may enter Stormdrain Tower." One of them hissed, grinning maddeningly at us. " Wanna bet, son of a . . . beehive?" I asked, drawing my wand and spell deck. I drew a card. It was skeletal dragon. I cast it, and within a few seconds, the way was clear. "Come on, hurry up. I'm gonna kill that girl, providing she's still here." I stormed across the bridge and up to the tower. The door was locked tightly, but I blasted it open with dark fire. Inside, Moira was talking to Nightshade.  
>" Oh, look! Our guests are here. Tsk, tsk, you're late. I was expecting you here five minutes ago." Moira said cheerfully. I started seeing red.<br>" You are one fried Necromancer, Moonchaser." I snapped, raising my wand.  
>" Oh, dear, I think you're overreacting. And, as it would seem, I'm due back at the hideout in a few minutes, so I'll be going. Too bad. You can fight your old pet, though. See you around, Alexandra Firesong!" She disappeared.<p>

" MOIRA! YOU'RE GONNA PAY! DO YOU HEAR ME!" I shrieked. There was no answer.  
>" Have you already forgotten me, Alexandra?" Nightshade asked in his strange, hissing tone of voice.<br>" Never. You've joined Moira, and now you will pay. You were my pet once, but no longer. Your deeds are unforgivable. Draw your cards and prepare to die." I stepped into the circle, followed by Destiny, Donna and Ashley.

_Next up: Alexandra v.s. Nightshade. That should be up very very soon._


	25. Chapter 25: Alexandra vs Nightshade

_Here it is: chapter 26. I have no more to say on the subject._

_Disclaimer: ICE CREAM SANDWICH. Hah. So there._

My team was chosen to go first. I noticed that Nightshade's health was around 1,700, and his three Ianthine Spectre helpers were at 1,000 health. I didn't have any spells that could take that much.  
>" I've got Nightshade. Don't even touch him unless you're playing traps on him." I warned my friends. They nodded in agreement. I inspected my seven cards. I had a death trap, which I used immediately. I didn't even notice what my other friends played. I was too busy planning my next moves. A feint and a death blade were part of my plan. The Spectres passed, saving their pips. Nightshade, amazingly, didn't cheat. He played a ghoul with his two pips. Obviously, he attacked me, but it didn't harm me much. When it was my turn again, I played the death blade. Donna used her balance blade treasure card on me, and Destiny gave me a death shield. "Thanks." I told them. Ashley passed, saving her two power pips. The opposing team each played a ghoul on me, except for Nightshade, who played a fire shield. I used my feint, and only then did I look at my pips. I had five power pips. Enough to cast any death spell invented so far. I discarded a death shield and drew a treasure card. It was a card I could use to morph my skeletal dragon into a life dragon. It would do 50 more damage. I used it, and then cast the life dragon. A few seconds later, the Ianthine Spectres were all dead, and Nightshade's health was at about five. He gave up, and the circle disappeared. I approached him. With no mercy in my soul, I turned my wand into a death sword and stabbed him through the heart. He made a strangled hissing noise and collapsed. Strangely enough, I felt no sadness. I didn't care that my favorite pet was dead. I put away my wand and turned to face my friends. They were staring at me.<p>

" I'm sorry, Alexandra." Destiny said softly. I shook my head.  
>" I don't care. He's dead, and it couldn't be helped."<br>" How did your feelings on the death of your pets change so quickly? Just a few minutes ago, you were crying because you had killed Lenora."

" Tears are a sign of weakness, and I refuse to be a weakling. If I am weak, I will not be able to defeat Moira." I said simply, shrugging. Something had changed in me as I fought Nightshade. Some part of me had given up sadness, and there was something else slowly replacing it: a deadly hunger for revenge.

_I've got 0 plans for chapter 27 as of right now, but I'm working on it. Brainstorming is in progress. I know it will probably have something to do with Krokotopia, but I might put something in before that. Who knows? Chapter 27 should be up in a day or two hopefully, but I've got to work on my other stories, too. I haven't updated my Sonic the Hedgehog fic in almost two months now._


	26. Chapter 26: Drowning

_**A/N:**_ _Hello. As you probably guessed from the word count, I, the author, am not Firestorm Nauragalos. I am a Bleach fan-fic writer, SuperYuuki, and Firestorm Nauragalos is my friend IRL. I m simply writing this one-shot for her because, one, I flamed one of her stories and I want to make up for it, two, because I have so many ideas for the character I m letting her use, Moira Moonchaser, and three, because I damned well want to, so shut up. :D My highest level character on Wizard 101 is still an Apprentice (and I ve got a free account), so I don t know much, but I did a little research. So if I get some details wrong, then please don t hold it against me. I have no idea what it s like in Nightside, so I m just going to wing it and make it like it I think it could be. I also think I m conveying Malistaire as more cruel than he actually is. ;)_

_Also, I do not know how Destiny of a Fire s Song is going to end. So, do not take any hints dropped in this to be actuality._

_And furthermore, I must place this here:_

_**Warnings: Mentions and scenes of torture. Overall bad language.**_

_**Disclaimer**__: Neither SuperYuuki nor Firestorm Nauragalos own Wizard 101. They do own their respective characters, though._

It didn't often storm in Nightside. That aspect of the place added to the eerie feeling of absolute stillness. Unsuspecting adventurers, or, god forbid, foolish heroes, that journeyed to the realm of Nightside rarely ever returned completely sane. Students especially tried to steer clear of the place except when it was unavoidable, perhaps needing to retrieve a certain rare reagent. The strongest mystical beasts roamed there, and many of them were taking a liking to their residents.

A few weeks had passed since the Death School had dropped into Nightside, the moderately sized grim fortress becoming the main piece of the dark land's unusual landscape. It was a symbol of fear, and the two wizards that dwelled within the castle had made it that way.

Cruelty, many found, had a new meaning after one gazed upon the sole female of the castle. The teen aged girl had hair the color of moonbeams, her eyes a glacial blue, eyes that looked down upon all as the lesser, the scum. Her skin was the palest of ivories, but not with flaw. If someone was unfortunate enough to catch her changing, the scars on her back and upper arms were evident, and to a knowledgeable eye, they could be easily identifiable as scars from repeated lashings- of course, those that knew of these scars were either dead, dying, or driven insane. She wore a black robe that fell to her mid-thigh, with red trimmings, and black and white striped leggings.

Her name was Moira Moonchaser. Seventeen years old, and already hailed as one of the most evil wizards the Spiral had ever seen.

She gazed into the crystal ball, its soft blue light illuminated her face as its mystic energies projected an image of a girl, a girl with black hair tied up in a ponytail, her sharp gray eyes scanning the area with apprehension, as if she vaguely realized she was being watched.

The albino Necromancer's scowl deepened as she made a sound of disgust.

"Pathetic, isn't it?" she sneered, "Your little Alex is at it again, it seems."

A calm, smooth voice resonated throughout the shadowy, high-ceilinged chamber. "I would watch your tone if I were you, Moonchaser."

She scoffed, throwing her head to the side, the action causing the small braids on either side of her face to swing. "And what are you going to do about it, Malistaire?" she challenged, "Put me in time-out?" She snorted, a rather unattractive sound coming from her, and turned her gaze back to the glowing orb, running her long-nailed fingers along the cheek of Alexandra Firesong's image, causing the girl to shiver slightly, "How I would love to have a few hours alone with her in the dungeons," she said offhandedly, "I've got that new whip that I've been saving just for her …"

_Crack!_

_The young girl cried out at the pain of the whip biting hard into the much-abused area between her shoulder blades._

_Crack!_

_Blood sprayed out to accompany the searing pain of once more having the harsh tendril snap against her back. She collapsed, to the ground, screaming in pain. But she knew that she would be in this situation if it weren't for one man, the one man she'd pledged to destroy. She had to endure, endure until she was strong enough to kill._

_She found a steel-toed boot being slammed into her side, and she groaned in pain._

_"Dirty little street urchin! That will teach you to not steal from my stall!" he shouted, _

_"Scum," he murmured, "If your mother was worth as much as you, she'd be living in a whorehou-" Her eyes had snapped open at the mention of the word "mother" and then narrowed in defiance. She'd jumped to her feet and immediately tackled the man with as much force as she could muster in her rage, her dainty hand closing around the man's neck._

_"My mother was worth more than you, that much is for damned certain." She tightened her grip, the man struggling to get a breath, but his efforts were for nothing. When he stopped struggling, the girl stood, her bloodied cloak's hood falling back to reveal moonlight hair. She removed the man's shirt and tore it into broad strips, which she used to bandage her wounds. She'd wash them out next time it rained, which was rather often around those parts. Then she'd make her way to the next neighborhood, as she had to keep moving._

_Absently, she looked at the dead man on the ground that she had just asphyxiated. How many was that now? She began to count on her fingers the number of deaths she'd caused, surprised when she realized it was more than she could count on one hand. She stared at her hand for what seemed like an eternity, the horrific flashes of blood that she had caused to spill and pain that she'd inflicted with her metaphorically blood-stained hands entrancing her._

_Her brow furrowed. That was quite a bit to swallow, she supposed. Oh well._

_She shrugged dismissively before continuing on her way._

Moira's eyes darkened in remembrance, but she promptly shook it off.

She heard Malistaire scoff. "Perhaps, Moonchaser, I should take that whip of yours and remind you what such an experience feels like." The Necromancer's eyes widened in consternation as she cautiously backed up against the bookcase, gripping her wand in her hand as she felt around behind her for the ritual knife that she kept on the shelf.

"You wouldn't," she gasped, the old scars on her back aching in apprehension.

Malistaire turned, quirking an eyebrow. "Calm down, Moonchaser, I was merely jesting." She exhaled in relief, slipping her wand back into her robe and returning to her perch in front of the crystal ball, switching her view instead to the dungeons- the empty dungeons. They'd be full soon. Full with new playmates- once they solved her puzzle, they'd be running into her trap. Into the dark, sadistic clutches of Moira Moonchaser.

There were many reasons why she hated Alexandra Firesong, specifically. Many, many reasons, Moira was sure. But when she tried to name those reasons, her mind went blank.

She stepped away from the crystal ball, walking over to stand next to Malistaire, who gazed contemplatively out the large window. She was at least a foot shorter than the dark wizard, who was actually rather tall.

Moira lazily unlatched the clamp keeping the window closed, and pulled in open, like a door. "Later," she said dismissively, hopping down from the high window, landing steadily on the rocky ground, and took off at a steady pace, walking briskly.

Solitary walks were enjoyable to her, as she was an unsociable creature at heart. Her eyes were caught by a dead tree, to close to her favorite spot for her liking. She approached the tree, placing her hand against the rough bark. Moira allowed the soft energies of life to flow through her, to the tree, which slowly regained its life.

Many people would think that a Necromancer with Life as their secondary was downright weird. This was not so to Moira. It made perfect sense to her. Why would one want to master Death and not have a grip on Life as well? Life was an important thing. Even she knew that.

Because really, if one would seek to master Death without a firm hold on Life, then they would drown.

They'd drown in their own cruelty.

What Moira Moonchaser didn't realize, was that she was already too far under for Life to save her.


	27. Chapter 27: Spiral Key 1

_**A/N:** I know I haven't updated in a million years (except for that oneshot by SuperYuuki) but, as I said in chapter 26, I have had NO ideas whatsoever. In fact, I haven't actually had any ideas for ANY of my stories lately, fanfics or otherwise. It's strange; normally I can get ideas just by sitting around. It must have been some freakishly large case of Writer's Block (curse the evil thing)._  
><em>In response to my reviews . . .<em>

_Scarlet SilverWeaver: Yes, I am very addicted to ice cream sandwiches. :) There's a possibility that Alexandra's turning evil . . ._

_scarletfireblaze: Thanks! You're a good guesser, by the way. I honestly have NO IDEA how long this story is going to be. I have to do at least four chapters about Krokotopia, probably more, and then I have to write about Marleybone, Mooshu, and Dragonspyre. So... maybe 20 more chapters? Maybe less, maybe more. It all depends on what kind of ideas I get. Grizzleheim, Wintertusk and Celestia will be a part of the sequel . . . oops! I didn't say anything about a sequel. What are you talking about? :)_

_Disclaimer: *Puts on a crown and stands on an island* Do I look like KingsIsle? . . . . don't answer that._

" Hey, Alexandra?" Brooke called. I turned to her. "Do you have any idea how to get this cage open?" She was standing in front of a cage that contained a young male Diviner.  
>" You're Artur Gryphonbane, right?" He nodded. "Let me see that lock." I walked over to Brooke and inspected the skull-shaped lock. "He used an obsidian lock, strengthened by Necromancy. Not bad. Destiny, can you break the magic?" She nodded. Wordlessly, she tapped the skull. It broke open, revealing a normal padlock. I dug the tip of my athame into the end and twisted. A second later, it popped open, and Brooke pulled open the door. Artur stepped out.<br>" Thanks, Brooke."  
>" And what are we, chopped ghoul?" I asked indignantly. He grinned.<br>" Thank you, too."  
>" Artur, these are my friends: Alexandra, Destiny, Ashley, Donna, Erica, Evan, and Heather."<br>" Nice to meet you."  
>" Do you know where Moira went?" Donna asked. He shook his head.<br>" I DO have this, though . . . " He pulled a small circle from his pocket. On one side was a spiral, and on the opposite side was a krok head. The Krokotopia Spiral Key.  
>" WHERE DID YOU FIND THAT!"<br>"Moira dropped this just outside my cage, and I hid it."  
>" Hmm . . . "<br>" I don't need the Spiral Key. You can have it." He gave it to Brooke.  
>" Thank you, Artur. You should get back to Triton Avenue; Susie will-"<br>" Omigosh! I completely forgot about her! She'll be frantic!"  
>" You're not kidding. She sent us to check on you."<br>" Okay. I should probably be going . Thanks again for your help! Bye!" He ran from the tower.  
>" Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?" I said suddenly. My friends stared at me blankly. "Moira just HAPPENED to drop the Spiral Key right outside Artur's cage, and she just HAPPENED to not notice that it was gone, or that he picked it up. Either she's helping us for some unknown reason, which I doubt, or she's playing with us, which seems more likely."<br>" You've got a point. Who knows what Moira's up to."  
>" Come on. We don't have all day, you know. We've got to enter Krokotopia and find the Krokonomicon before Moira and Malistaire do. Get your mounts." Since Bat was "out of order," I rented a black stallion, who appeared in front of me. I mounted him and galloped out of the tower.<p>

We arrived at the Spiral Chamber a few minutes later. I returned the stallion to the shop once we were inside. There were just a few Journeymen inside, staring at the Spiral Door and trying to get it open. They jumped aside as I approached. One squeaked in fear as I glared at her, and then pressed the Krokotopia Spiral Key into its slot on the door. It latched in with a small "pop," and when I opened the door, I felt a wave of desert air hit me.  
>" Moira, you'd better look out. I'm coming for you." I muttered. I stepped forwards and entered the desert world.<p>

_**A/N:** Yay, I finally finished it! This has taken me about a week and a half to write. Sorry about that. I have recently found out that my right wrist (my writing hand) is either sprained or fractured, and therefore typing is VERY VERY VERY SLOW WORK. :( On a slightly better note, I have decided to make this my goal: I will try my very hardest to update this story at least once a week, more if I can. It will be hard, what with school starting in one week, but I think I can manage it. My goal is to finish this story by New Year's, so hopefully I can do that._

_**COMING UP**: Possibly another one shot by SuperYuuki _

_Krokotopia _

_More Krokotopia_

_If anyone can give me a moderately detailed description of the main quest for Krokotopia, I would greatly appreciate it. My brother sent me one in an email, but he's not the best when it comes to describing._

_ALSO: I have just created a new villain. I am either going to use her in this story, or I will write her story as a different fic. I will have a poll on my profile, so please please PLEASE vote! I'm not sure which I should do!_

_Review? NO FLAMES ALLOWED! This isn't the Fire School, people! :)_


	28. Chapter 28: The Pyramid of the Sun

_**A/N:** Good news: my hand isn't broken. Bad news: It's swollen and VERY painful, which makes typing/writing very very VERY difficult. I think I can still keep to my schedule of updating at least once a week, but every once in a while, I might be late._

_Poll news: the poll is closed! My new villainess will be included in DoFS rather than in a new fic. Sorry I closed it so quickly, but I have to add her into Marleybone. The setting is better there. Krokotopia is ending in a few chapters, most likely, probably around four chapters after this one. I'd do more, but I'd need more information about the main quest._

_Disclaimer: Hmm . . . let me think . . . Oh! I got it! I can't possibly own Wizard101. If I did, crowns wouldn't exist (making the game free) and Death wizards would rule all! MWAHAHA! :)_

Krokotopia was HOT. STEAMING hot. SIZZLING hot. BOILING hot. The only ones that seemed comfortable were Evan and Donna. Erica and Ashley seemed to be melting slowly into nothing. I was fanning myself with my hand, and Brooke had formed her own private rainstorm over her head.  
>" Lucky." I muttered as I passed her.<br>" Excuse me, young wizards! May I speak to you for a moment?" A raspy voice called from behind us. I turned. The speaker was an orange mander.  
>" Yes?" Brooke asked.<br>" Krokotopia is in danger. The kroks have returned to life and are enslaving the manders once again. Please, help us!"  
>" Okay. what do you want us to do?"<br>" Go speak with Sergeant Major Talbot in the Oasis. He can tell you what to do next."  
>" We'll see what we can do."<br>" Thank you." We left.  
>" Brooke, how are we gonna have time to help the manders? We've still got to chase Moira and Malistaire!" I hissed.<br>" The manders are helpless, peaceful little creatures! They can't defend themselves from kroks! Besides, by helping them, we may get some information on Malistaire's plans." She replied.  
>" Fine. Whatever. But it had BETTER not take long; half of us are melting into puddles as we speak." I grumbled, walking ahead. The Oasis was somewhat cooler, since it had some water and a breeze, but not cool enough to make me comfortable. The Sergeant Major was a Yorkie dog in a red military uniform.<br>" Hello. Are you Sergeant Major Talbot?" Erica asked.  
>" Yes, indeed! Sergeant Major Sylvester Quimby Talbot the third, at your servace."<br>" That orange mander over there told us to talk to you. We're here to help free them from slavery and gain information about Malistaire." Donna said, smiling brightly.  
>" Well, then, can you go speak with Professor Winthrop inside the Pyramid of the Sun? He and his crew of archaeologists were excavating the Throne Room a little while ago, and that's when we got the message that the kroks were alive again! I can't spare any soldiers; they are otherwise occupied."<br>" Uh, sure. We can do that. Just wondering: is it any . . . cooler in there?" Erica panted. " Not much, I'm afraid. It is, after all, home to the fire-based Kroks, the Nirinis." He replied. Everyone groaned loudly, except for the Pyromancers. Donna jumped up and down and clapped her hands, and I pretended to whack her with my wand.  
>" Hey, don't hit me, you big meanie!" She yelped, jumping away from me. " Then stop acting all pleased to be entering a fiery, steaming hot pyramid." I growled. I turned and stomped away towards the pyramid.<br>" Bye, Professor!" Donna sang as she skipped away, her happy nature restored.  
>The pyramid WASN'T any cooler. In fact, it was HOTTER, since the only lighting was a huge bunch of torches. I took my hat off and fanned myself with it. It didn't help any. We saw the professor standing near an altar-type place.<br>" Hello, young wizards!" He called to us. I nodded, to hot to speak.  
>" The Sergeant Major sent us here." Evan explained. " We're looking for information about Malistaire, and we're trying to help free the manders from slavery."<br>" I see. I think I know just what Malistaire is looking for! The Order of the Fang is a secret group of Krok wizards. They wrote a book of rituals called the Krokonomicon, and it is all about Life and Death magic. They used it to put the evil Tuts to sleep.I believe that my crew and I have re-woken them! Just before the kroks woke and attacked us, we found an obelisk with information about the Order of the Fang. If you can make rubbings of the obelisk, I can study it and tell you what I found out."  
>" Anything else we can do? All eight of us don't need to go make rubbings."<br>" As a matter of fact, yes. Just as we were evacuating, I saw Biti Nirini take an ancient tablet. He is the leader of the kroks in this area. The tablet may be useful, so if a few of you can fight him and recover the tablet, that would be most helpful. You will need to recover the chamber key from one of the kroks in the hallway, though; the chamber will be locked."  
>" Got it. Rubbings of the obelisk, find a chamber key, fight Biti Nirini, get the tablet, come back. Doesn't sound too hard. What school of magic does Biti use?"<br>" Fire, as do all the Nirinis in this area."  
>" Okay. Ashley, Erica, Destiny and I will go fight Biti. Evan, Donna, Heather and Brooke will go take care of the obelisk." I decided. We split up.<p>

After fighting eight Nirinis, one dropped a key on the ground.  
>" Got it." Destiny called, picking up the key.<br>" Good. Come on; Biti's chamber is straight ahead. Switch up your deck, Alexandra.. Your ice magic will be more helpful that your death magic." I switched to my ice deck and my Ice Mastery amulet, and we ran to the portal. Destiny inserted the chamber key, and the portal glowed blue. I stepped into the first circle and waited. Ten seconds later, we were inside Biti's chamber.  
>" Fools! You are not worthy of standing before me! Fall to the ground, and perhaps I will show you mercy!" The krok hissed.<br>" You're funny. Prepare to die, krok!" I ran towards him, my wand drawn. The dueling circle chose my team to go first. I drew my seven cards: evil snowman, wyvern, ice blade, ice trap, volcanic shield, colossus, and a tower shield. With two power pips, I could cast the wyvern. I selected Biti as my target and played the card. The wyvern took about half of his health with his boost. After doing a quick mental calculation, I discovered that he had 476 health left. His helper was dead after two evil snowmen and a leprechaun. Biti cast a sunbird on me, and I flinched. I didn't have any fire resistance, but at least I had over 3,000 health. For the second round, I passed, Destiny played nature's wrath, Erica cast evil snowman again, and Ashley passed. Biti had 26 health left, and my mega dark blow (wand spell) would finish him off. "Everyone pass!" I called, selecting the mega dark blow. I stepped forwards and swung the sword. Biti's health circle emptied, and he crumbled into dust with a wail. I walked to the back of the room, looking for the tablet. I found it on an old desk.  
>" Did you find it?" Erica asked. I nodded, handing her the tablet. I knew that she would be far more careful with it than I would.<p>

_**A/N:** Yay! It's a long chapter this time! And I met my deadline! I've already started working on chapter 30 (!) and I will try to publish at least one more chapter before I go back to school on Thursday. :( :( :( :( Oh, well. Summer can't last forever. If you review, I'll give you a three scoop ice cream with a cherry! :) Or an ice cream sandwich. Your choice._


	29. Chapter 29: The Quartermaster

_**A/N:**__ Here is chapter 30! OMIGOSH I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT THIS THING IS ALREADY 30 CHAPTERS LONG! Okay, Firestorm is calm now. :) Ice cream sandwiches to SuperYuuki and Bethy-Boodles for reviewing! In this chapter: Three O.C.'s enter the story, and one older O.C. returns to haunt everyone._

_**Disclaimer:**__ I is the owner of Wizard101. DEATH WIZARDS SHALL RULE ALL! Mwahahahaha! __***Gets attacked by**__**KingsIsle***__ AAAAAHHHHHHH! I didn't mean it! I was just kidding!_

"Excellent, you've found everything I need," The professor said, inspecting the rubbings and the tablet. "I see. I believe that the Order of the Fang is still alive. There is a map room inside the Palace of Fire, but we can't get inside. It may help us to find the Order of the Fang. They can tell us where the Krokonomicon is, and we can try and get to it before Malistaire does. Malcom Danforth has been looking for a way to enter. I'm sure he could use your help," The professor said to us. I groaned. More walking through a steaming hot pyramid.

"Thank you, Professor Winthrop," Brooke said, shooting me a nasty look.

"Can we at least take our mounts instead of walking from one end of this pyramid to the other," I asked.

"Duh. The Excavation Room is about a quarter of a mile away. That would take WAY too long to get there on foot." I rented the black stallion again, and my friends summoned their mounts. We were nearly to the Excavation Room when I heard someone yell,

"STOP!" We stopped. A wizard dressed in green ran up to us. "Were you guys trying to DITCH me or something?"

"Hello to you, too, Sabrina." The indignant looking Theurgist glared at me.

"You're not going on any adventures without me, so get used to it. I have a task to do, and once I'm done helping you, you'll help me."

"Who says we can't do it oursel-" I started angrily, but Heather cut me off.

"Sabrina, if you need help, just ask."

"I don't need help! I just-"

"Need help," Brooke supplied helpfully.

"No!"

"Yeah, you do. You won't admit it, since you're too proud, but you do need help," Donna said, basically summing up Sabrina's attitude. The Theurgist glared at her, but didn't respond.

"Well, come on. If you want our help, you gotta help us first. Get your mount and come on," I grumbled. Sabrina shot one last glare at me, and then she whistled. Her white mare, Stella, galloped over, and Sabrina mounted her.

"We're going to the Excavation Room to talk to Malcom Danforth. We've got to get in to the Palace of Fire's map room. Come on; we want to get out of here." Sabrina galloped ahead.

"Follow me, then. I know the fastest way there."

"Who put her in charge, again," Destiny whispered to me. A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.  
>As usual, Sabrina took charge of EVERYTHING. When we found Malcom Danforth, she greeted him with a businesslike air. He told us to go talk to Robert Lancaster to find a keystone, and she led us there. Robert told us to go dig in the Throne Room for half of the keystone, and she agreed, but when we got there, she nominated me and Brooke to get dirty while she watched, a smug smile on her face. I was on the verge of slapping the stuck up Theurgist when we arrived at the chamber of the Nirini Quartermaster. He had the second piece of the keystone, and we had to fight him in order to retrieve it.<p>

"I'LL take the first circle in the battle," Sabrina said loudly.

"The krok's helper is myth. You get to watch, Sabrina. Deal with it."

"Why can't I be the healer, then," She whined.

"Because Destiny's a Theurgist, too, and SHE can use Storm magic. Erica, Ashley, you two can join me and Destiny."

"You're DEATH!"

"SABRINA JADELEAF, SHUT YOUR MOUTH OR I'M GOING TO SHUT IT FOR YOU," I yelled, finally losing my temper. She screwed her face into a VERY nasty look, and then she haughtily walked to the side of the hallway and sat down. The others joined her, but less rudely. My three teammates and I entered the teleporter. The timer counted down to zero, and we appeared inside the chamber. We noticed, however, that there was not space for all four of us in the dueling circle: three other wizards were already inside. One was clearly a Diviner. She was dressed in the Storm School's signature colors of purple and yellow. The second thing I noticed about her was that she was dressed like a novice . . . or she WAS a novice. In the second circle was a girl dressed in stitched black clothing. She seemed to be about a Journeyman, and I knew from the color choice that she was from the school of Death. The third girl was dressed in blue and white, and her clothes were the style of an adept. A Thaumaturge. I wasn't too worried about them surviving the battle (I mean, one was an adept, and in a Journeyman-level world!) until I saw the Quartermaster's spell: a meteor strike. He had to be a cheater; rank three bosses could not, under any circumstances, cast meteor strike, unless they were cheaters. The Novice was dead in a matter of seconds, the Journeyman seemed pretty low on health, and the Adept had taken a hard blow from the spell, too.

"Don't flee," Destiny called, running to the battle circle. The rest of us could only watch. She started with two power pips, as usual. Her first spell was a satyr on the Novice. The Quartermaster's helper was almost dead, and the Journeyman killed it with a ghoul. The Adept played a wyvern on the Quartermaster, taking his health down to 300. The next time around, the Novice played a thunder snake, the Journeyman cast a death trap, the Adept chose a tower shield, which she played on the Novice, and Destiny selected sprite, which she played on the Journeyman. After one more round, the Quartermaster was dead, and the Adept wizard had taken the keystone from him. The four approached us.

"These three were sent here by Malcom Danforth. It seems that they, too, are trying to reach the Palace of Fire."

"What are your names and levels?" I asked. The Novice was the first to speak, quietly.

"I-I'm Ashley NightSinger. Level three."

"I am Jess DarkThief, level 16."

"And I'm Madison IceFlower, level 24."

"Are you two out of your MINDS? You brought a LEVEL THREE DIVINER into Krokotopia to fight one of the hardest bosses in the entire pyramid? What were you thinking," I asked, completely shocked that they would do such a thing.

"Well, our teacher told us to come here, and she wanted to come with us, so we let her. She wanted to gain experience faster." I did a face-palm.

"Don't mind her, she's a little . . . troubled," Erica whispered.

"I heard that, Thaumaturge," I snapped.

"I'm Destiny Greenblossom, level 60. This is Erica Bluestone and Ashley Spellsword, also level 60, and the troubled Necromancer is Alexandra Firesong, level 60."

"You're all Legendaries?"

"Yep."

"Wow. Here, you can have this. We should go back to Wizard City; at least, our Ashley should." Madison handed me the Keystone.

"See you around, maybe." They disappeared. I looked at the piece of the keystone in my hand.

"Well, I guess we're going to the Palace of Fire," Erica said.

"And I am NOT troubled!" The Thaumaturge smiled.

"Sure you're not, Alexandra."

"She's very correct," came a voice from behind me. I spun around, and in front of me stood Moira, lounging against the wall.

"You've got SOME nerve, showing your face after that note," Ashley spat. I was too angry to speak.

"Sheesh, calm down, Alex. I didn't come to fight. I've got a little present for you." She flipped something in the air, and Destiny caught it.

"This is …half of the Marleybone Spiral Key? Moira, wha-" But she was gone. There was no sign that the Necromancer had ever been there, except for an envelope on the ground. It was marked with a black moon, and on the front was the name: Sabrina Jadeleaf.

"Sabrina? What does she want with Sabrina," Destiny wondered.

"Sabrina has the kind of attitude she wants helping her. It's probably meant to sway her to the evil side," I realized.

"We should read it before we give it to her. There's no way she'll tell us what it said." Without a second thought, I opened the envelope and removed the piece of paper inside . . .

_**A/N:**__ This time, I'm giving away licorice or pizza if you review :) So . . . REVIEW! Note on O.C.'s: I am working on putting in all the submitted O.C.'s. It will take a while to get them all in, but I promise that they WILL end up in the story at some point._


	30. Chapter 30: Letter from Moira 2

_**A/N:** I'MSOSORRYI'MLATE! I'm a whole day late! :( Firestorm very sowee. To make up for it, I wrote this chapter longer than normal (I hope). I now have almost 40 reviews on this story! I love you people! :) Firestorm is happies. :D Licorice to all my reviewers! ~~~~~~~~ I would have pizza, too, but the pizza doesn't want to work and I can't make it. :(  
><em>

_Disclaimer:*Gets hit by a crown thrown at her by KingsIsle* OW! Meanies, that hurt! I said I was kidding!_

" Dear Sabrina,  
>Hello. My name is Moira Moonchaser. There is no doubt that you have heard of me, since you seem to be traveling with Alex and friends now. They may tell you things about me, evil things, but don't let them deceive you. I'm not THAT evil. I've had my share of troubles, the same as you. Chosen for a school I didn't want, both parents gone, and more. Many, many more. Your mother was kidnapped, and I may be willing to help you get her back. However, there is a price: you'll have to help me. All I want is information. You must tell me anything and everything about Alex and her friends. Their parents and siblings, where they live, their schools and levels, their strengths and weaknesses, everything you know. Do that, and once the Ultimate Goal is complete, we will save your mother. The sorceress will fall, and Marieta Jadeblossom will return home. Not too hard, right? Just a little information, and your mother will be safe. Contact me immediately by whisper if you agree.<br>-M.M. " There was silence. "Sabrina would spring for that in a moment. Her mother, kidnapped? I know that if there was any way to rescue MY mother, I would do whatever it took." I told them.  
>" Anything, Alexandra? Would you destroy the Spiral, make peace with Moira, just to get Sylvia back?" Destiny asked quietly.<br>" Well . . . I guess not, but Sabrina's different. She would do that."  
>" Maybe not so different." Erica whispered, entering the teleporter back to the hall. We followed her, and I mused over what she had said. Not so different? Sabrina and I were complete opposites! We weren't alike at all . . . right? I thought about Erica's words all the way back to Professor Winthrop's station in the Throne Room.<br>" Excellent! You've uncovered the way to the Palace of Fire! Now, enter through the gate and speak with Lieutenant Standish. He may need some help clearing the way to the map room."  
>" Yay. More fighting." I said flatly. We climbed onto our mounts and departed for the Palace of Fire. Inside, we met Lieutenant Standish near the doorway.<br>" Hello, wizards! Can you help me out?"  
>" Sure. What do you need us to do?" Brooke asked. She had been restored to her position as leader, since Sabrina had gotten on everyone's last nerve, and eventually, we had just told her to ride in the back and stop talking or we wouldn't let her follow us.<br>" The Throne Room of Fire is locked by strong dark magic. The only way to break it is by defeating the krok leaders in this area. They are in the four corners of the palace: Nebit Nirini, Edo Nirini, Shai Nirini, and Akori Nirini. Once you defeat them all, the way will open, and from the Throne Room, we can get to the map room."  
>" Okay. Doesn't sound too hard. Destiny, come with me. Brooke and Heather, go to Akori. Erica and Evan, you go fight Shai, and Sabrina, Donna and Ashley can go to Nebit. Destiny and I will handle Edo." We split up and headed towards our bosses.<br>" What kind of fighter is Edo?" Destiny asked.  
>" Fire. His helper is Myth." We approached Edo's chamber in silence. Inside stood a krok and a desert golem. The krok was Edo Nirini.<br>" Wizards? How dare you enter my chamber?"  
>" We've come to open the Throne Room of Fire, and to do that, you must die." I hissed, drawing my wand and entering the dueling circle. I drew my seven cards. I had a moderately good hand, and I chose an ice blade. " Colossus?" Destiny asked, casting a storm trap on the golem. I nodded. Both of the enemies passed. I played an ice trap on Edo, waiting for one more pip. Edo cast a banshee on me, but I didn't even flinch. In fact, I laughed at him.<br>" Oh, stop it, that tickled. You're dead." I played my colossus. " NOOOOOOO!" Edo shrieked, turning into dust. The golem collapsed after taking a kraken from Destiny. I gave her a high five before leaving the chamber. We rode back to the Lieutenant.  
>" Excellent! You are the first to return, and there are Brooke and Heather now." Four minutes later, everyone had returned. When I saw Sabrina, I subconsciously touched my pocket, where her letter from Moira was hidden. "Thank you for all your help, young wizards. The map room is just inside, but it is locked. There are several things you must do to get inside. First, you must defeat Prince Manu Nirini to break the magic lock on the door. To get inside his chamber, which is at the end of the Throne Room, you will have to solve a riddle of some sort. There is a book near the door, which will tell you how to solve the riddle. Enter and defeat him. You will also have to fight Krokenkahmen to recover the Eye of Krok, which is the key to the map room. His chamber is close to the map room. Once you enter the throne room, walk all the way down to the wall and turn right. Go straight until you reach the intersection, and turn left. Walk to the second intersection and turn left again, then go straight to the wall and turn right. There will be a door on your left, and there is another riddle to enter his chamber. Once both bosses are defeated, bring the Eye of Krok to me and I will open the map room for you."<br>" Got it." Erica said, looking up from her notebook. She had quickly written all the directions down. "Do you know what schools of magic the bosses use?"  
>" As a matter of fact, I do. The prince uses fire magic, and he also uses a bit of myth. I believe his helpers are krokomummies, which are death. Krokenkahmen is also fire, and his helpers are Nirini house guards, who are fire, and Nirini ancient guards, which are death."<br>" Thank you, Lieutenant." Erica scrawled the schools next to the names of the bosses. "I've figured out who can go where: Alexandra, Ashley, Brooke and Destiny will go fight the prince. I will go with Heather, Donna, and Sabrina to fight Krokenkahmen. Evan, you'll have to wait here."  
>" Works for me." The Pyromancer said, shrugging. Everyone else entered the Throne Room of Fire and split up, heading for their opponent.<p>

**_/N_**_**A:** The fight scenes between Krokenkahmen and the prince will be one chapter combined. There will be a P.O.V. switch about halfway through the chapter. Last thing: I apologize if I am messing up the Krokotopia storyline. I'm going off Swordroll's Guide to the Throne Room of Fire, and I'm not sure how accurate it is. If I'm completely wrong, well, I guess this story is more original than I thought :)_


	31. Chapter 31: Kroks, Riddles, and Romia

_**A/N:** I'm late again, aren't I. :( Sorry! If I'm running late, you can P.M. or review and yell at me, if you want. Not REALLY NASTY yelling, just "Firestorm, you're late!" kind of yelling. I'm starting the next chapter as soon as this one's up, so . . . yeah. FIRESTORM STOP TALKING! Okay, already! I'm done!_

_Disclaimer: AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! TOO BUSY RUNNING FROM KINGSISLE TO TYPE A DISCLAIMER!_

**_-Alexandra-_**

I walked slightly behind my friends. They were discussing battle strategies and other important things-at least, I assumed that they were important-while they walked and dug through their backpacks in search of the right decks, wands, and pets. I was thinking about Moira's letter to Sabrina, and about Erica's words. Not so different? Of course we were different! Moira was trying to sway Sabrina to her side, and why that was, I had no idea. Maybe because she was one of the most powerful Theurgists in the Spiral. Maybe because of her strong spirit. Maybe it was because she didn't like us and would gladly betray our secrets. It took us a while to reach the prince's chamber, and when we arrived, we saw that our entrance was blocked. There was a huge, brown sandstone door in our way, and it was locked with the ankh symbol. In front of the door were three braziers with white fire burning inside them.  
>" There's a book over there. Maybe it's got a clue as to how we open the door." Brooke observed. She walked over and opened the large book.<br>" What's it say?" Ashley asked.  
>" It says, ' Thou shalt not enter unless all the flames burn the correct color. Each color from the Balance of Magic must appear: first snow and ice, then lightening and rain, and lastly, sparks and ashes. Once the flames burn the correct color, the ankh will break, and the door will be open.' Hmm . . . " We all thought for a minute.<br>" I've got it." I said suddenly. "Snow and ice is first. The color for the school of ice is blue." I touched the first brazier and whispered the word, "Blue." The fire changed color.  
>" Oh, I get it! Next is lightening and rain, which is storm." Brooke realized. She touched the center brazier, and the fire turned purple.<br>" The last one is fire. Ashes and sparks are fire." Destiny said, touching the last brazier and turning the fire red. The ankh on the door broke down the center, and it fell from the door. Ashley ventured forward cautiously and pushed on the door. At her touch, it swung open, revealing a long, dark hallway lit only by small torches.  
>" Come on." I said impatiently, brushing past Ashley and down the hallway. I took a torch from the wall and led the way inside. I heard footsteps, and I knew that my friends were following me. When a faint glow appeared at the end of the tunnel, I knew that we were approaching our destination. I reached into my backpack with my free hand and felt around. I touched a deck of cards, and by feeling the top of it, I could trace an ice symbol. I took the ice deck from my bag and replaced it with my death deck. I put my death sword in with my death deck, and I took my Ice Cutlass from the backpack. The glow got brighter. I tossed the torch onto the floor, not bothering to look where it landed. I was focused on one thing: killing the prince so I could find Moira. When I could see the end of the tunnel, I ran out into Prince Manu's chamber. Ashley, Destiny and Brooke were close behind me. There were four VERY startled looking Kroks in the chamber. All four were staring at us from behind a table, which was littered with scrolls, stone tablets, and several morbid looking figurines of Kroks.<br>" WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" The biggest Krok roared in rage, getting over his shock rapidly.  
>" We've come to defeat you, Manu Nirini." I growled back, raising my cutlass. I ran towards him, planning to kill him before we had to duel, but the circle was formed too quickly. I got stuck in the first circle. Snarling in frustration, I drew seven cards and played a death blade on myself. I barely noticed when Destiny, Brooke and Ashley joined the battle.<br>After a three-minute-long fight, the four of us had killed the prince and his three friends. We gave each other high fives-all except for Ashley, who seemed nervous about something.  
>" What's that smell?" She asked slowly. I sniffed the air. Sure enough, there was a strange, bitter smell in the air. We all turned towards the tunnel. Flames were leaping from our only way out.<p>

**_-Erica-_**

I rode Snowy, my blue dragon, as fast as I could towards Krokenkahmen's chamber. The faster we got the Eye of Krok from him, the faster we could continue chasing Moira through Krokotopia. The sooner we caught Moira, the sooner we could hunt for Malistaire and put a stop to his plans.  
>" Hey, Erica! Slow down!" Donna yelled, trying to keep up on her rented pegasus mount. Iris, Heather's chestnut pony, was far behind, too, as was Sabrina and Stella, her white mare. Erica regrettably slowed down, allowing her three companions to catch up.<br>" Any idea how much farther it is? Iris is getting tired." Heather said, patting her mare's neck.  
>" Not too much farther. We have one more turn to make before we're at his chamber door, and then we have to solve a riddle." I replied. I rode ahead again, ignoring Donna and Heather's protests. Sabrina was strangely quiet; I wondered how much she knew about Moira and Malistaire's plans. I decided not to question her. When we reached the door a minute later, I saw a book on a small table. Donna immediately walked over to the door and tried pulling on it, but the ankh shaped lock kept it closed. I smiled to myself as I opened the book. Inside, there was only one line: Where the two suns shine, the way will be clear, but not if there is any moon shining. Suns and moons . . . I looked around. There were four obelisks. Two had darkened sun shapes on them, and two had glowing moon shapes. I nodded towards Sabrina and Heather, and then pointed to the moon obelisks. "Can you touch them, please?" They nodded. I walked over to the sun obelisks.<p>

_**-Sabrina-**_

As I approached the second glowing moon, I spotted a dark spot in the center. As I approached, I noticed that it was a sticker shaped like a black moon. I hesitantly touched it, and it glowed. I heard a voice:  
>" Come around the obelisk, Sabrina." I obeyed, feeling a strange sense of relaxation come over me, as though the voice was my mother speaking to me, calling me to dinner. I smiled slightly when I saw who was speaking. It was an albino girl with black hair, dressed all in black. I had seen her many times before. Romia Redeyes was a friend. She had power over death and could conjur spirits. Through Romia, I had seen my mother many times.<br>" Hello, Sabrina." She said in her soft, mesmerizing voice, smiling.  
>" Hello, Romia."<br>" I have a favor to ask of you."  
>" Sure. Anything."<br>" I would like to know some things about Alexandra." My smile slowly disappeared, morphing into a frown.  
>" Alexandra? Why do you want to know about her?"<br>" My reasons are my own." Romia said sharply, losing her sweetness for a moment. "You want to see your mother, don't you?"  
>" Yes, of course! What do you want to know?"<br>" Anything you can tell me. Absolutely anything."  
>" Well, she hates fire. Her school is death, and her secondary school is ice. She's level 60, and has a mastery amulet for ice. Her resistance level for death is almost 70%, and her ice resistance is 45%. She can resist all the other schools 38%. Her critical is 50%. She starts every battle with three power pips, and her power pip chance is 55%. She has a black dragon mount named Bat, who's somewhere. I'm not sure where."<br>" Yes? Do you know anything else?" Romia asked eagerly.  
>" Umm . . . I know that her house is on an island just outside of Wizard City, and her touchy spot is her adoptive parents, Sylvia and Malistaire Drake."<br>" That will do for now. Try and learn some more for me; I'll see you again soon." She turned as if she was going to leave, but I stopped her.  
>" Wait! What about my mom?"<br>" Oh, yes. Here she is!" Romia cast a spell, and a spirit rose from the ground. I recognized the soft features, the gently curling brown hair, the comforting green eyes of my mother. She smiled kindly at me.  
>" Hi, Mom."<br>" Hello, my dear."  
>" How are you?"<br>" I am well. How is your trip going?"  
>" I think it's going pretty well. The other wizards aren't very nice to me, but I'm surviving. I'll find a way to get you back, with or without them."<br>" Thank you, Sabrina. I long for the day when I can touch you again." She reached out her ghostly hand as though she wanted to touch me, but her hand passed through my face. Her smile faded. "I must go. Goodbye, Sabrina, until we meet again." She disappeared.  
>" You know, I can help you get her back." Romia purred into my ear. I stared at her.<br>" How?"  
>" Come with me. I will take you to my leader, who is a powerful and just man. He has a similar goal to your's. He wishes to restore his dead wife to the living."<br>" Really?"  
>" Yes." Before I could respond, Erica, Heather and Donna ran over to me.<br>" Sabrina, be careful! Moira, get away from her!" We stared at the thaumaturge.  
>" Moira? Who is that, Romia?"<br>" Quickly, make your choice! I cannot return if you don't agree!" She hissed, wide-eyed.  
>" No! Don't listen to her; she's a liar!" Donna shrieked. I hesitated only one more second, and then I took Romia-or Moira's- oustreached hand.<br>" I will come with you." Her smirk grew wider, and she held up her wand.  
>" NO!" It was too late. We had already teleported away.<p>

_**-Erica-**_

I stared at the spot where Sabrina had been standing. Moira had gotten her, somehow.  
>" We've got to tell Alexandra! We-we have to stop her!" Heather stuttered, clearly nervous.<br>" We have to defeat Krokenkahmen first! Come on; as soon as we've killed him and taken the Eye of Krok, we can chase Moira and Sabrina." I touched the moon obelisk, and the moon shape grew dim. The ankh symbol broke and fell from the door, and we raced inside.  
>Krokenkahmen was pacing in a circle around a small table. On it was a round chunk of stone with a large eye carved on it. It had to be the Eye.<br>" Hey, Alligator-Face!" Donna yelled tauntingly. The krok's head shot up, and he growled. I drew my ice sword and threw it at him, piercing his heart. He shrieked and crumbled. Heather ran forwards and grabbed the Eye, along with my sword. She handed the blade back to me.  
>" Thanks." I said, accepting the sword. I stuck it in my backpack, and Heather nodded. She placed the Eye in her backpack, and we climbed onto our mounts.<br>" We'd better hurry. Somehow, I've got this feeling that something's wrong." the Conjurer said anxiously.  
>" I'm sure everything's fine. There's nothing Alexandra can't handle." Donna replied confidently. We quickly rode from the chamber and back towards the professor's location.<p>

_**A/N:** I know that the ending's kinda rushed, but I was trying to get this up before tomorrow. I've got a parade, a football game, and a dance to attend (homecoming) so I won't be home all day. One last random thing from Firestorm: go to youtube and look up Jackie Evancho O mio babbino caro. Watch the whole thing. She's AMAZING! :) Ciao for now!_


	32. Chapter 32: Break

_**A/N:** Hello~~~ It's another little chapter from SuperYuuki! Hopefully it won't be so oddly formatted this time. :P And I hope you don't mind,Nauralagos, but I've added another little O.C., Arthas. No last name. Hedoesn't need one. And yes, I know it's a blatant World of Warcraft reference. And it's a coincidence that Arthas is a Necromancer. He is not going to go crazy and start raising the dead and trying to annihilate all life. I suppose you could call this chapter "Break."_  
><em><strong>Other AN:** HI! I feel really hyper right now. I FINALLY got my fiction press account set up. I just published a new story. It's called "Just One Tear," and it's horror/angst etc. etc. etc. I'm rather proud of it. If you want to see it, just go to fiction press dot com. I have the same pen name.  
><strong>Warnings<strong>: Some swearing, some nasty violence, some vivid description. Nothing that goes beyond T rating._

Moira hated Krokotopia. The sun beat down heavily on her the back of her head and sand had found its way into her boots. Sand was not supposed to be in her boots. Boots were not where sand belonged. If only she could kill the sand, but no, sand wasn't sentient nor was it alive, so she couldn't kill it. She figured, if she were a Pyromancer, then she could burn it, but then she'd have glass, and glass would hurt. The less time she spent in this god forsaken place, the better. If it hadn't been for her brilliant plan, she wouldn't have to be there in the first place, but if she wanted to succeed, she needed people. Normally, she would do all the dirty work herself, as she'd always done. She was always a hands-on kind of person. Moira could never trust someone else to carry out her complex and detailed plans. Nevertheless, her preferences mattered not in this situation.  
>She'd see this plan through even if it was the last thing she did. Her biggest problem, though, was that her only options were either complete pompous morons or feral, uncivilized, animals. The only reasons she had chosen this Sabrina girl was because of her obvious connection to Firesong and her easily exploitable weaknesses. That, and she was a fool. A pompous, over-confident, fool. Who in the right mind would fall for such a simple alias as "Romia?" It was just an anagram, simple as pie. She waited through the hopelessly stupid confrontation, her disdain kept from her face. Firesong kept such weak company. Who were these people, anyways? None of them even came close to matching Alex in power, or even intelligence. It made Moira sick. Why would Alexandra surround herself with such ants, such insignificant weaklings? When Sabrina grasped her hand, Moira had to bite back the urge to kill her on the spot. They reappeared in the dungeons, the cold stone surrounding the pair on all sides. She noticed the shock on the girl's face, and used that moment to drop her glamour spell, the second-skin feeling leaving her with a soft sigh. Moira quickly disappeared into the shadows to watch the girl's reaction. She looked around frantically.<br>" Romia? Romia? Where the hell are you?" Moira resisted the urge to scoff and stayed concealed. As she heard footsteps making their way down the stone steps into the dungeons. She remained concealed even as the taller man stood directly in front of her, his back facing her. He spoke, his voice as intimidating as always.  
>" Hello, Sabrina," Malistaire said, his face upturned slightly. The young wizard's eyes widened.<br>" Where the hell am I? Who are you?" she said with a panicked voice, "What did you do with Romia!"  
>Moira stepped out of the shadows.<br>" He's Malistaire, you moron," she snapped. Her expression was amusing.  
>" M-M-Malistaire ?"<br>" Ah, there you are, Moonchaser," he stated flatly, "I just wanted to see what you had found. It looks like you have your work cut out for you," he turned deftly on one foot and began walking back towards the stairs. "Do what you did with Blackbird, and she'll be on your side in no time."  
>" Yes sir," Moira said, her teeth clenched. She knew what she had to do. He didn't need to tell her. The Necromancer turned back to Sabrina, was sprawled out on the ground just beyond the magically reinforced bars. She walked right up to edge of the hall, gazing in at the helpless girl. "So, same speech as before, just with an added condition. Betray your friends, join me, and you'll get your mother back. If you refuse, well, I could always stretch 's a tad barbaric, but I haven't used that thing in years " she trailed off in remembrance. She looked a bit confused.<br>" W-What . . . where's Romia?" Moira twitched.  
>" There is no Romia, you idiot! That was me!" she scolded. "I lied so Alex wouldn't know it was me!" A miserable whining began to seep into the dungeon, sounding almost like a mewling noise. Perhaps an odd cross between a kitten and a cockatiel, high pitched and sad. Moira's eyes narrowed in recognition, while Sabrina's eyes slowly trailed towards the noise. Her eyes widened in fear and shock and she yelped, crawling back.<br>" What the hell is that thing?" she cried. The Necromancer turned and regarded the creature in the cell across the hall with a steady gaze. It had very light, almost papery skin with a slight violet tint. Its eyes were a shiny pitch black, a void in which there was no light, and its long, black and violet hair pooled around it. It was a creature, and Moira would always think of it as such. Not a she, not her, not by its 'human' name. No. To Moira, this thing was to be called by only one name. She turned away from it, facing neither the thing nor Sabrina.  
>" That's just Blackbird. She's not especially talkative."<br>" What-what is it?" Moira snorted.  
>" To be completely honest, I have no idea," she grinned and turned back to Sabrina, "Maybe you should ask her. You're both going to be down here a while. Can't trust you until you're broken." And with that, Moira strolled casually up the stairs. She closed the door gently behind her, only to be blindsided by a sudden Death spell. She was thrown against the wall, the plastered stone cracking slightly from the impact. Her vision swam, temporarily dazed. She cried out as a large hand fisted in her hair, tugging her up to her knees.<br>" What the hell do you think you're doing, Moonchaser?" Malistaire said with deadly calm. Moira took a deep breath, a trail of sticky, red liquid obscuring her eyes. It took her a few moments to realize that she was bleeding. Suddenly, she was seeing red, and it wasn't because of her blood. How dare he cause her blood to spill? Her teeth clenched. "I don't repeat myself, girl." She gritted her teeth.  
>" I needed more people for my plan to work," she said with as much respect as she could muster.<br>" You're wasting time and resources. Time and resources you could be using to assist me." Moira narrowed her eyes.  
>" It's my job to keep away intruders. You told me that yourself. I'm doing my damned job."<br>He dropped her.  
>" Do better. Or else." With that, he left to do whatever the hell he did. Moira rose shakily to her feet and nearly collapsed, slamming her fist into the already cracked wall. Her eyes bugged in pure rage. She was hating that hubris jerk more and more each passing day. Oh how she wished to strangle him her favorite form of murder asphyxiation. She loved it. How the throat would collapse beneath her fingers, the way their voice would choke out for air, the way they slowly turned blue blue was such a lovely color. Her hands twitched. An unfamiliar hand clasped her shoulder.<br>" Lady Moira?" She turned, reacting automatically by backhanding the offender.  
>" Don't touch me!" she shrieked. The boy slammed into the wall, though not nearly as hard as she had earlier.<br>" I'm sorry! Lady Moira, I apologize!" he rushed, "It won't happen again!" Moira's anger melted as she recognized the boy. It was the last remaining student of the Death school beside herself. She'd only kept him because he was handy with chores and such. His name was . . . Arthur? No it was weirder than that-ah, Arthas. He was a timid boy, and she was actually surprised he had survived being around her this long. She sank to her knees and just breathed, trying to calm down from the violent encounter. Her hands were shaking. "Lady Moira! You're bleeding!" he exclaimed, rushing to her side. She stayed motionless, her eyes still centered on her shaking hands. As she felt him brush her hair out of the way, her eyes lifted to look at him. His light purple eyes were concentrated intently on her wound, his messy blond hair falling just barely in front of his face. He winced. "It's pretty bad. " he reached behind him and retrieved one of the freshly washed white towels that he'd been carrying.  
>" No, you fool, you'll get blood all over the towels. " she murmured. He ignored her, and pressed the towel to her forehead. She sighed and let him tend to her wounds. He ripped another towel in half and wrapped it around her forehead in a make-shift bandage.<br>" There. What happened, by the way?" he asked innocently.  
>" None of your damned business," she replied tiredly. She tried to raise to her feet once more, but she teetered precariously. Arthas's hand shot out to steady her, and she threw him a weak glare. "I thought I told you not to touch me." He smiled a bit.<br>" A bit late for that now." She blinked, then sighed.  
>" Just get me to my room. I grow weary of this farce."<p>

_**A/N:** Moira needs a little love interest XP  
><strong>Other AN:** Sorry if there's a lack of punctuation anywhere. Notepad stinks, but that's all I have to use and I might not catch everything. Next actual chapter will be up as soon as I finish it.  
><em>


	33. Chapter 33: Finding the Fire

_**A/N:** Galu! (Sindarin for hello, goodbye, and good luck) I have two things to say: First of all, my brother's fan fiction account is up and running! His pen name is Lord Energy, and he is co-writing a Wizard101 story with me. Second piece of news: I have FINALLY published my first fiction press story! It's called "Just One Tear," and I'm rather proud of it in all its creepy angsty emo-ness. ;) Check it out if you're interested. I have the same pen name on fiction press. French fries to my reviewers ======== (Yeah, I know. Very lame French fry. My brain's not working very well right now.)_

_**Disclaimer:** KingsIsle: Hmmm, what's this? *Picks up one of Firestorm's books* (original fiction book) Firestorm: PUT THAT DOWN YOU SON OF A BEEHIVE! *Starts chasing KingsIsle around in circles, trying to get the book back*_

-Alexandra-

I stared at the flames in horror. My mind was completely empty; for once, I couldn't think of a plan. Brooke was worse off; she was curled in a ball, screaming her head off. I knew she didn't particularly like fire, but this was absurd!

"Alexandra, what are we gonna do?" Destiny yelled.

"I-"

"Use ice to stop the flames!" Hesitantly, I raised my wand. I tried to draw the ice symbol, but . . . I couldn't do it.

"Come on!" Ashley yelled.

"I can't! I don't know why!"

"Then whisper to Erica and have her come! Ashley, can you do anything?"

"No! None of my powers are working, either! It's got to be the flames; they're weakening me!"

_"Erica, hurry! We're trapped in here by flames, and our powers aren't working!"_ I whispered desperately to the thaumaturge._  
><em>

_"On our way!"_ She replied quickly.

"Erica's coming!" I called to my friends.

"She may not be here in time . . . " Destiny whispered, pointing to the entrance. The columns holding up the roof of the pyramid were being weakened by the flames. There was no way out.

-Erica-

"Erica, what's going on?" Donna asked as we raced towards the prince's chamber.

"Alexandra whispered to me. They're trapped inside by fire, and their powers aren't working!" I called back to her, riding ahead. I urged Snowy to go faster, but she was already flying as hard as she could. Just ahead of us, I could see the doors to the chamber, and they were wide open. There was no trace of fire.

"They must b-be far insid-de." Heather stuttered. It was a habit; she'd always stutter when nervous. I nodded grimly, urging Snowy forwards. She shied away from the boiling hot tunnel.

"Snowy, you have to go forwards. We've got to help Alexandra." I whispered calmingly, trying hard not to let my fear show. Slowly, Snowy started forwards. Donna and Heather followed me closely. I could hear Donna's ragged, nervous breathing as we rode through the dark. There was no sound from Heather besides the steady clip-clop of her horse's hooves. Soon, I could see a faint glow in the distance.

"There's the fire." Donna whispered, drawing her wand. I did the same.

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Heather asked, no longer stuttering.

"Well, I want you to stay back, Heather. You don't have any powers that can stop fire, so just stay safe. Donna, try and make the flames die, and I'll use ice magic to put them out completely."

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?"

"Positive. I don't want you to get hurt, Heather." We continued in silence, keeping a steady, moderately calm pace. If we panicked, all would be lost, and Alexandra would have no hope of survival.

As we neared the end of the tunnel, the heat intensified, the flames became more visible, and I could hear screams inside. I recognized Destiny's and Alexandra's voices, and also Ashley's, but of Brooke there was no sound. Was she just being calm and quiet, as usual, or was something terribly wrong?

-Donna-

I stared in fear at the fire. I usually had no issue with fire; I loved it, in fact. But I had never dealt with so much fire, so out of control that I couldn't see through it. I thought of Brooke, my best friend. She was TERRIFIED of fire. I remembered the day I met her so well . . .

**_Flashback: Donna is sitting at a desk in the Fire School, waiting impatiently and bouncing n her seat. A few minutes after class begins, a girl with long black hair enters the room._**

"Hello, Professor Falmea." Headmaster Ambrose says.

"Hello, Headmaster. Who is this young student?"

"This is Brooke Swiftriver. She has requested to transfer Secondary Schools from myth to fire. Is that alright with you?"

"Of course. I'm always up for new students. Brooke, you may sit next to Donna." I wave to her, smiling as cheerfully as I can. She regards me warily, sitting down gingerly, as though the desk will burst into flames as soon as she touches it.

"Hi! I'm Donna Dragonflame! Your name is cool. What's your first school? Is it fun there? Is it hard? Do you have any pets or mounts or anything yet? Where do you live? Do you have any siblings? I do. I have a little brother, Jake. He's pretty cool, for an 11 year do you . . ." I trail off as I realize how hard Brooke is laughing. She doesn't look the same as she did a minute ago. She looks happy and friendly and nice, even if she is practically splitting her sides laughing at me.

"Well, Donna, to answer your questions: My first school is Storm. I think it's really fun, and no, it's not particularly hard. I don't have a mount yet, but my mom gave me a pet Storm Hound named Callie. I live on Triton Avenue, and no, I don't have any siblings. There's just me and my mom, Azura."

"Oh, cool! My secondary school is Storm, so we're opposites! Is Callie cute? Can I meet her? Hey, what about your dad?" I can't help myself; my A.D.H.D. is going full steam, and I am curious besides. However, this time I am stopped not by laughter, but by a harsh look from the Diviner.

"My dad is dead." There is a note of sadness in her voice, and I can see tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know." I whisper, feeling my cheeks go red. I look away from her and bite my tongue, trying hard not to blurt out anything rude.  
>We listen as Professor Falmea talks about firecats and casting fire spells for a while, and finally, she says,<p>

"Okay, class, now you will all try and cast a firecat. Take these practice spell cards and try it out, one at a time. I will demonstrate first." She draws a red symbol of light in the air and touches it. I can see that Brooke is gripping the edges of her seat tightly, and her face is drawn and pale. Her eyes are wide and fixed on the professor. I can tell that she's terrified of something. As the firecat leaps from the tip of Professor Falmea's wand, Brooke shrieks at the top of her lungs, flies from her chair, and runs from the room. Everyone stares at her in shock.

Later that day, I find Brooke sitting under a tree, crying.

"Are you okay?" I ask, keeping my A.D.H.D. under control for once. She stares at me tearfully.

"No. I'm scared of fire. Fire's what killed my dad, and I only want to learn how to stop it if something like that happens again." She whispers to me.

"What? Oh, my gosh, that's really bad . . . " I say quietly. Brooke nods.

"I miss him so much . . . I wish there was some way for me to bring him back, or to at least see him again."

"I can't help you see him again, but I'll be your friend, Brooke, and if you're ever sad, come talk to me and I'll make you feel better. I can talk really really fast like this and I can just keep talking about really random stuff and stuff like that and I can change topics really quickly OOH BIRDY!" I finally exclaim, pointing to a nearby tree. Despite her tears, Brooke smiles a shaky smile.

"Thanks, Donna. Friends?"

"Friends." I say, smiling brightly.

**_End of flashback_**

Fire killed her father when she was eight years old, and ever since then, Brooke had been scared of fire. She joined Pyromancy as her secondary school to try and overcome that fear. Eventually, she could cast the spells without too much fear, and had even grown to like Pyromancy a little bit. However, when Brooke was faced with fire she couldn't control, she would freak out, reliving the fire in her house all over again. She might have even passed out from sheer terror. I had to stop the flames and save her. I took a deep breath, rolled my sleeves out of the way, and thought of a spell.

"FIRE SHIELD!" I yelled. The shield appeared in front of me. I would be able to walk straight into the flames and not burn, just as long as my shield endured. "Erica, try and stop the fire from out here; I'm gonna go in and try to save Alexandra!" I called over the crackle of fire. The thaumaturge gave me a thumbs up in reply, concentrating on weaving a net of ice to trap the fire. I pushed aside my raging fear and stepped forwards, not hesitating to enter the inferno. I had to save Brooke, or I would never forgive myself.

_**A/N:** Heehee. Another cliff hanger. Don't worry, I've already got the next chapter planned out in my head; all I have to do is write it. Since my bother-UH, I MEAN BROTHER, and my dad, are going away for the weekend, my mom and baby sister and I will have the house to ourselves. I have NO homework and a half day of drills tomorrow, so I can type just about all weekend. If I'm lucky, I might get the next chapter up on Columbus Day or before. I will try my very very very hardest to do so. :) Review and I'll give you an ice cream cone! (The Doritos weren't working. Sorry.) Here's one in advance: c{OOO (Picture a greater than sign after the 0. Fan fiction doesn't like them)  
><em>

_ Coming up soon:_  
><em>The end of the Krokotopia part of this story (I'm shortening it A LOT. Sorry if that's an issue.)<em>  
><em>The beginning of Marleybone<br>More on the mystery of Sabrina and Moira  
>Introducing: Chelsea Dayriver and Kestrel Nightshade!<em>


	34. Chapter 34: Fire and Darkness

_**A/N:**__ My GOSH, this thing is HUGE! It's 35 chapters already and I'm only just finishing up Krokotopia! Oh, well. As I said in the last chapter, I will be cutting Krokotopia a bit short. We can let the initiates and journeymen deal with Krokopatra, and I don't feel like researching the entire rest of Krokotopia. So, either this chapter or the next one will be the last chapter of Krokotopia, and then we get to enter Marelybone! YAAAAAAAAYY! More researching for Firestorm! In an upcoming chapter, I will be trying to feature some of the O.C.'s. Naminimi pointed out that I wasn't using them enough, and she is absolutely correct._

_Sorry about the lack of Doritos in the last chapter; fan fiction seems to hate greater than and less than signs, which are required to make the Doritos. To make up for it, though, here's a triple scoop ice cream dish with whipped cream and a cherry for all my reviewers: SuperYuuki and Naminimi :) c{OOOD You can choose the flavor (s)._

_**Disclaimer:**__ *Tackles KingsIsle and grabs book* VICTORY IS MINE! *Starts whacking KingsIsle with the book*_

_Warnings: I'm starting these in this chapter. There are several VERY messed up chapters approaching. There are no warnings for chapter 35, I don't think. A bit of irrational thinking and some insanity, but no blood or guts._

_**-Donna-**_

I fought my way through the flames, trying to see my friends. Their voices were getting louder. 

"Alexandra, can you hear me?" I yelled. 

"Yes!" Came the reply. I hurried ahead, pushing aside the smoke with my arms and coughing. The shield only protected me from the heat, not from the smoke, and it burned my eyes. I stumbled forwards and was suddenly free of the flames. In front of me stood Alexandra, Ashley, and Destiny. Brooke was sitting off to the side, sobbing quietly.  
>"I'll cast fire shield on each of you. Just run through the fire and you'll be safe." <p>

"Are you sure?" Destiny coughed. 

"Positive! The fire shield won't help with the smoke, but it will keep you safe from the heat. Destiny, get ready; you're first." I pointed my wand at her and cast the spell. The small orange shield appeared in front of her, and I gave her a thumbs up. "Go on! Erica and Heather are outside, trying to stop the fire. See what you can do to help them!" 

"What about Sabrina?" 

"I'll explain later! Go!" She ran into the inferno. I turned to Alexandra next, but she shook her head. 

"Take care of Ashley first. I can wait." I nodded and cast the fire shield on Ashley. She was clearly weaker than Destiny; it must have been the fire working against her Thaumatury powers. Without hesitation, she stumbled forwards, closely following the Theurgist. I quickly shielded Alexandra, and she darted into the fire next. I bent down next to Brooke and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"Brooke, come on. You've got to get up," I said as comfortingly as I could manage. She stared at me with wide eyes. 

"So much fire . . . so dangerous . . . Mommy, run!" She screamed. Her mind was not where it should be, that was for sure. 

"You have to get out of here, Brooke! Come on, stand up!" I said, shaking her shoulder a little. Brooke shrieked in fear, pawing at my hand. 

"Burning! Can't go! Help me! Calder, get away!" I thought quickly, trying to figure out how to get my friend away from the danger.

_"Donna, come on! The support pillars won't last much longer!"_ Erica whispered to me. 

_"Okay, okay, I'm coming!"_ I replied. There was only one option. I cast the fire shield on Brooke and started half carrying, half dragging her towards the tunnel. The closer we got to the flames, the louder she screamed and the more she struggled, but I just held on tighter. _"A little help here, please! Destiny, if your shield is still up, come help me!"_

_"Coming!"_ She whispered back. A moment later, the Theurgist ran into the room. She didn't even ask, just helped me carry Brooke through the fire. I heard a rumbling and knew that we had to move fast. 

_"Ashley, come help! I've gotta keep the supports standing!"_ I whispered frantically. Wheezing and exhausted, Ashley appeared in front of us. She took my place, and I ran back into the room. 

"Be careful!" Destiny yelled. I didn't even look back. I concentrated all my powers on the pillars, and I started summoning creatures to help me hold them up. I had to help Brooke get out safely. Had to help Brooke. Had to help her._ Had to._ Before I knew it, I had drained the last of my strength, and there were over 50 different fire creatures holding up the pillars. As long as I stayed conscious, I could keep them there, but the second I passed out, they would be gone, leaving the walls unsupported. I was too busy concentrating on the receding shadows of Brooke, Ashley, and Destiny to notice the dark figure creeping up behind me. I felt something slam into my head, a burst of pain, and everything went black. 

"I'm sorry, Brooke!" I cried, my voice fading as I spoke.

_**-Brooke-**_

Everything was blurry. Blurry, blurry, blurry. I heard a voice . . . was it my mother? No, it was someone younger. Donna. 

"Come on, Brooke . . ." she murmured gently, touching my shoulder. I tried to call out to her, to tell her I couldn't move, but something else had control of my mind. Something started dragging me across the ground, and I struggled fiercely. I felt heat on my face, and smelled smoke. Fire? FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE FIRE! I screamed and fought harder, but another person grabbed me and helped the first one. "It's okay. We're going to help you," whispered Donna. 

"Don't make me go in there!" I begged, seeing a tunnel of fire. Donna wouldn't make me go in there; she was my friend! I felt one person let go of me, and another person took their place. I heard running footsteps . . . was it my friend, coming to help me? It couldn't be. The footsteps were getting softer and softer. Running away. The light of the fire was blinding me, the flames were all around, and smoke filled my nose and mouth. I coughed weakly, trying to get rid of it. Suddenly, the light was gone. The fire was gone. The air was clear. I could breathe. I was set down, and a green light surrounded me. I felt strangely calm and peaceful. All the pain went away. It was all shattered when I heard a rumbling noise. 

"Donna! Get out of there!" Someone called. _Alexandra,_ I thought. I looked up. The fire was gone, but holding up the entire entrance were dozens of fire creatures. Fire elves, fire cats, helephants, scorch bats, they were all there. I could see a figure lying on the ground just inside. I saw spiky, chestnut brown hair and red robes . . . it was Donna. She was staring at us. Something dark came up behind her, and I tried to call out a warning, but my tongue felt like it was coated in sawdust. 

"I'm sorry, Brooke!" She screamed, and then the fire creatures disappeared. The pillars wobbled for a second. I leaped to my feet, tried to run forwards. Something latched onto my arm. I resisted, but the grip was too strong. The entrance to the room collapsed, separating me and my friend. 

"DONNA!" I howled. The hand released me, and I heard crying. I ran to the heap of stone and started scratching furiously at it. I quickly gave up and started yanking away whole rocks. Someone joined me. I recognized Alexandra's dark ponytail and pale, almost glowing skin. Another person joined us, and then another. Soon, all the other wizards were digging. Most of them were careful, pulling rocks from the top, but I just grabbed whatever was closest and threw it behind me. After nearly five minutes of digging, I could see pockets of light leaking from between the rocks. I dug faster. 

"Brooke, look out!" Ashley yelled, pulling me to the side of the cave. She was just in time, too, because all of the remaining rocks fell forwards and rolled down the tunnel. I ripped my arms free of Ashley's hands and ran forwards. Heather and Alexandra were the only two that followed me. I searched and searched. There was no sign of the cheerful Pyromancer. 

"Brooke . . .? I-I think you'd better see this," Heather whispered, pointing to an obelisk. I approached her and looked where she was pointing. On the ground was Donna's wand. 

"No!" I whispered, dropping to the ground and picking up the wand. A few tears escaped my stinging eyes, and I clutched the wand tightly-all I had left of my best friend. 

"That's not all there is, Brooke," Alexandra growled, inspecting the obelisk. On it was a moon shape. It was lit up, but instead of the correct blue color, it was blacker than midnight. 

"Moira," I hissed. 

"She's just gone one step too far. No one messes with Donna Dragonflame," the Necromancer snarled, staring at the moon shape. 

"YOU'LL PAY, MOIRA! She did NOTHING to you!_** ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!**_ There is no person less worthy of death! NOT ONE SINGLE PERSON IN THE ENTIRE SPIRAL!" 

"She's not dead, Brooke." Heather handed me a sheet of folded paper.

**Dear Brooke:  
>I am aware that by now, you will have discovered Donna's disappearance. She is not dead; you have no reason to fear. I promise that I won't so much as touch her skin with a blade, although it is most tempting. She is being held captive as we speak. Come to Marleybone and you will find her. The rest of the Spiral Key is buried beneath the obelisk. Dig on the north side, two feet down, and you will find it.<strong>  
><strong>-M.M.<strong>

"Not dead . . . then I will save her. Moira, you'd better watch your back, because the next time it's turned, you'll find an athame in it," I spat. 

"When the time comes, we'll attack together, Brooke. She's got more than one deadly enemy, now," Alexandra said, her voice so low I barely heard it. 

"More than one deadly enemy . . ." I repeated softly. I would not be the same Brooke any longer. Gone was the calm, orderly, leader-like Brooke Swiftriver. I would be like Alexandra. I would be brave. I would be fierce. And most of all, I would be deadly.

_**A/N:**__ I am now going to start re-writing the chapters in the beginning of the story. I just looked back on them; the first one is under 500 words. That is too few for my liking. I might be a bit late on the next few chapters, but the revised first chapters will hopefully make up for that._


	35. Chapter 35: Of Keys and Creepy Poetry

_**A/N:** YAAAAYYY! THEY'RE FINALLY GOING TO MARLEYBONE! Okay, calm down, Firestorm. I'm calm. I'm perfectly calm. Completely, totally, 100% calm. WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU THINK I'M NOT CALM? :) Marleybone is going to have NOTHING to do with the game. The maguses can deal with the regular stuff; Alexandra and her friends can just hunt for Moira/Malistaire/Miowiarty/the Krokonomicon._

_**News:** The first two chapters have been fixed. They're in the 2,000 word range now :)_

_**Warnings****:** VERY VERY DARK! SOMEWHAT CREEPY! The author's note at the bottom explains it. Contains zombies.  
><em>

_**Disclaimer:** I have finally taken my revenge! Now I can get back to actual disclaimers! :) I don't own Wizard101, unfortunately, but I DO own my evil genius plans and evil genius brain that will allow me to take over the world, and then I WILL own Wizard101! MWAHAHAHAHA!_

**_-Alexandra-_**

Moira hadn't been lying, amazingly. On the north side of the obelisk, two feet below the surface, there was a small, round circle. It was a little dusty, but when I rubbed it off with my sleeve, I could see that it was gray, with a dark brown dog face on it. When I turned it over, I could see a spiral shape. It was the Marleybone Spiral Key.

"Did you find it?" Brooke asked. I shuddered when I saw her eyes. They were narrowed and cold, and I could see no signs of friendliness or kindness inside her. Did my eyes look like that? Did my friends shudder when they saw me? I pushed the thoughts away and nodded, showing her the circle. She nodded. "We should tell Evan to meet us at the Spiral Door. He's still waiting in the Palace of Fire."

"Good plan. _Evan, meet us at the Spiral Door. We've got the key and some bad news._ So, where's Sabrina?" Brooke's face darkened.

"Ask Heather or Erica." I had a feeling the news was bad. As we walked towards the Oasis, Erica explained what had happened: Sabrina was a traitor.

"I know she's self-centered and a bully, Alexandra, but I'm worried about Sabrina. Moira's a liar and a backstabber. She won't let Sabrina work for her the way Sabrina thinks. She might even end up a slave."

"So?"

"SO? Alexandra Firesong, I'm ashamed of you! You'd think that with all you've been through, you'd have slightly more respect for human life!" I turned to her slowly.

"Actually, no, everything I've gone through has NOT increased my respect for life. If anything, it's DEcreased my respect for life. When you live, life beats you up. When you get back up, it pushed you down again. And after a while of the same repetitive pattern, you just stay close to the ground. That way, you can get back at life without it noticing," I told her coolly. I walked ahead, leaving a very stunned Thaumaturge.

I chose to walk next to Brooke. She was acting a little freaky, but I figured that she could use support from SOMEONE, and everyone else was too scared of the Diviner's current mood to speak to her. Neither of us said a word, but I had a feeling that Brooke could tell what was on my mind, just as I knew what was on her's: finding Donna, saving her, and revenge upon Moira and Malistaire for all the evil they had done.

When we arrived at the Spiral Door, Evan was lounging against a wall, flipping through his journal and looking bored. He glanced in our direction as we approached, probably hearing the sand crunch beneath our boots.

"Hey, you're back!" He called, his lopsided grin appearing. I nodded grimly, pulling the Spiral Key out of my backpack. "So . . . what happened? And where are Sabrina and Donna?" He sounded nervous as he said Donna's name; it was a well known fact that he liked her. Erica whispered the story in his ear as I fitted the Key into place. I touched it with my wand and turned the doorknob. The door clicked open.

"Good. They didn't rig it, like I thought they would." I said, half to myself. I stepped into the portal first. It only took a moment for me to realize it: the whole thing was a trap. "GET BACK!" I yelled, shoving Destiny back towards the door. The last thing I saw was the terrified faces of my friends as they were sucked inside, and then the world went black.

I woke up with a groan. I felt like I'd been run over by a herd of helephants, ground up into pixie dust, and then tossed into a fire for good measure. My head was pounding, and my entire left side was completely numb. I painstakingly forced myself into a sitting position, ignoring the bolts of agony shooting through my body. I looked around, observing my surroundings with some difficulty. I was in a stone room. It was dark, with the exception of a small, barred window near the high ceiling, and the place smelled of mold and rotting fish. The air was frigid and damp, like I was in . . . a cave? My thoughts flew to my friends. Were they okay, or were they locked in this place, same as me? I looked around, and sure enough, I counted six unmoving forms on the ground. Dead? No, they were breathing. My instincts told me to wake Destiny first. Well, of course, she's the healer! I thought, but there was something telling me that it wasn't just that. I walked between the unconscious bodies of my friends, searching for a splash of green color. I found her near the edge of the group, and I touched her shoulder. She moaned and turned her head slightly towards me.

"Destiny, get up. I think you need to see this." The Theurgist got unsteadily to her feet, leaning on my shoulder for support. "Try and heal yourself." I told her. She nodded dumbly and felt for her wand.

"My wand's gone."

"No, it's not. Here." I picked up the wand from the ground and gave it to her. She grinned shakily, and then touched herself on the head with her wand. A green light filled the cave-prison-drain type place, and she shook her head, as if to clear it.

"Thanks. Where are we?"

"Not Marleybone, that's for sure. Someone rigged the portal."

"Malistaire?" I shook my head.

"He's not that kind of person. Malistaire's not afraid to lie, cheat, steal or kill, but he was never big on traps or kidnapping. This isn't his doing." We both knew that we had only one other option: Moira Moonchaser. I felt a nasty insult form on my lips, but the words died in the eerie quiet. I felt an urge to wake Erica up. "Help me find Erica. We've gotta wake her up next."

"How come?"

"I dunno; something's telling me that she needs to wake up, though." We looked for the Thaumaturge's white and indigo robes, and found her near the center of the bunch. I shook her arm. She gasped and sat up immediately. "Can you heal her?" I asked Destiny. My friend nodded and touched Erica with her wand. The same green light appeared.

"What in the name of the Great Giant happened?" She asked, brushing off her robes and standing up. Destiny and I both shrugged.

"Your guess is as good as ours: Moira."

"Hmm . . . " Suddenly, a voice rang through the chamber, a taunting, almost musical voice with a hint of cruelty in it.

"_Who to choose, who to choose. Such a difficult choice for the Necromancer. Who will she save, and who will be left to eternal damnation?_" The voice seemed eerily familiar.

"Moira." I spat the name like it tasted bad.

"_Who shall go and who shall stay?  
>That is not for me to say.<br>The Necromancer is who shall choose;  
>who will win and who will lose?<em>" Moira didn't seem like the "creepy poetry" type, but, hey! You learn something new every day, right?

"What are you talking about?" I screeched. The tone of Moira's voice changed, sounding more like a ghost's, distant and echo-y.

"_In precisely two minutes time, this room will begin to flood at a rate of twenty gallons of water per second. There is only enough time to rescue one more of your friends, and the others will be left to drown-or you can leave them to me. You may choose the fate of your friends. There will be a door for you and the saved ones at the opposite wall._"

"Never! I won't let you have any of them!" I snarled. There was a loud, cruel, mocking laughter.

"_You wish that were true, Firesong, but in reality, you know that I am in control. You are powerless. Your fears are coming true. You are in the clutches of Moira Moonchaser. Make your choice quickly; time is running dangerously low._" The sound of laughter slowly faded away.

"I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS!" I screamed.

"Alexandra, think about this logically: what does Moira specialize in?"

"Killing the innocent and torturing the weak!"

"Messing with minds." Destiny spoke up unexpectedly. I stared at her. "Moira does like to kill and torture people, true, but what she loves best is to slowly drive you insane, mess with your mind until you can't take it any more."

"Exactly. This isn't real, Alex. It's all a hallucination, a hologram, but one so real we could die in it." I was so stunned that I didn't even correct her on my name.

"Um, speaking of dying, look at the window!" Destiny pointed to the barred window. For those of you that have never witnessed 20 gallons of water pouring through a hole per second, rapidly flooding the room you're standing in, let me tell you: IT IS TERRIFYING. And when a Necromancer tells you that something's terrifying, expect it to be 50 times worse. We don't scare easily.

"Come on, we've got to try and save the others!" Erica's idea was logical, as usual. I quickly checked to see who remained. Heather, Evan, Ashley and Brooke were still out cold. We couldn't save all four of them, like Moira had said. We'd drown first.

"We can carry the other three." I said, running over to Ashley. I threw kindness to the wind and dumped some water on her head. She sat up, sputtering curses at me. Destiny healed her while Erica explained the situation, and I went to Heather. Maybe I had time to wake her, too. I pinched her arm, and to my utter surprise, she grabbed my hand. "You awake already?" I asked. Slowly, the Conjurer turned her head to face me. Her face had turned a sickly greenish-yellow, and her eyes were turning black, like endless tunnels of night. She hissed at me, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp fangs. Evan and Brooke also started moving, and both had similar conditions to Heather. "Sorry, Heather!" I apologized, whacking her arm with my wand. While she reeled in pain, I sprinted towards my friends that were moderately healthy-at least, more so than Heather, Brooke and Evan.

"Come on, we've gotta get out of here!" Ashley yelled. Destiny started to argue, but took one look at Zombie-Heather and changed her mind. She nodded, and we hurried towards the opposite wall of the room as quickly as we could. The water was getting deep; by the time we reached the wall, we were floundering in water up to our waists. I grabbed the door handle and pulled. Thankfully, it opened, and we ran out, slamming the door in Zombie-Brooke's face.

"Sorry, Brooke!" I yelled as we ran.

_**A/N:** Sorry I'm late AGAIN. I've been having a rather difficult week so far; most of that stress/frustration/anger/sadness will be expressed in my writing, so the next few chapters will be dark. I can almost guarantee that. So, what did you think of Moira's trap? Did I make it too easy for Erica to figure it out?  
><em>


	36. Chapter 36: Marleybone!

_**A/N:** Wow, I managed two whole chapters in a week! That's got to be my new record! It might have something to with the AWESOME review I got today on my new first chapter. :) See, this is what happens when Firestorm gets good reviews! *cough, cough* ;) She gets inspiration and updates more. :)_

_**Warnings: VERY VERY VERY DARK!** Creepiness, angst, death, and evil taunts. This will probably be one of my nastiest chapters. This chapter will also be excessively L-O-O-O-O-N-G._

_Disclaimer: Nid wyf yn berchen Wizard101. KingsIsle yn berchen arno. (Welsh for "I don't own Wizard101. KingsIsle owns it.)_

_Other randomness: A few new O.C.'s in this chapter._

**_-Alexandra-_**

We were only running for a few minutes before the ground disappeared. For a few seconds, all I could think was "We're going to die. Moira's got us." And then we slammed into a white stone floor. I felt like I was dying already-cold, wet, and in pain. Then, I heard a voice:

"Are you okay, Miss?" The voice was soft and British, not at all like the voice of Moira or one of her followers. Nevertheless, I leaped to my feet and had my wand out in a heartbeat. I was pointing the tip of the black skull at the speaker before I even realized who it was. "Oh! Goodness! I'm sorry to startle you, Miss." It was a Marleybonian dog, a German Shepherd dressed in a red uniform and a tan hat.

"Sorry about that." I said, relaxing instantly. I lowered my wand and looked around. We were in a big white church. The Marleybone Spiral Chamber. "Yes, I'm fine, but my friends . . ." I trailed off as I looked behind me. There were . . . SIX people there, not three! "Heather! Evan! Brooke!" I shrieked, running over to them. Slowly, my friends sat up. Each one's face had a different expression. Destiny was shocked, Erica was relieved, Ashley looked tired and sad, Brooke was angry, Evan was confused, and Heather's face was completely terrified.

"What happened?" Evan's face was blank.

"Moira captured us, that's 'what happened!'" Brooke hissed, her eyes bugging in rage. She scrambled to her feet and whipped out her wand. "Let's go. No one turns me into a zombie and lives very long."

"Wait, Brooke." Erica stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. While the Thaumaturge whispered calming words into Brooke's ear, I turned to Heather. She was still sitting on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest and crying silently.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"It was terrifying in there, Alexandra," she whispered. "Everything was dark and cold. I couldn't see anything. It felt like there was no such thing as warmth anymore. I felt like something was possessing me; my arms and legs moved, but I wasn't moving them. My body was attacking you, while my mind was screaming for me to stop. I couldn't stop. I-if you hadn't ran away when you did, I would have killed you."

"Heather . . ."

"I think I should go home. I don't see how I can help you any more. I don't want something like that to happen again; I'd never forgive myself if I hurt you." I was shocked.

"Heather, I don't know what you're talking about. You're one of the most helpful people here; we would never have gotten this far without you." It was a lie, and she knew it.

"You don't have to lie to make me feel better." The Conjurer turned and started walking towards the Spiral Door, but Ashley stopped her.

"Heather Rosegem, stop walking right now or I will go up there and take the Spiral Keys. True, you may not be the most helpful people in the group, but you've got something none of us have: true, innocent, sincere compassion for nearly everything living. You're patient, and you can think logically, even in the craziest situations. Without those traits, we'd have a much more difficult time on this quest. Even Erica gets frustrated sometimes, and when she does, you're the one who keeps us organized! You're our friend; we don't care about your faults!" I'd never seen this side of Ashley before. I guess Donna's capture brings out strange qualities in all of us, I thought. Heather's face was amusing. Her eyes were wide, and her mouth was open in shock.

"She's right," I said, stepping forwards. "We're together on this, Heather. Everyone here is present because they're needed and wanted on this quest. Donna is my friend; I'm not gonna abandon the search for her. Are you?" She slowly shook her head.

"No."

"Well, then, come on. We've got a villain to track down and a friend to rescue." I turned back to the Marleybonian. "Did you see a tall man dressed in black, an albino girl wearing black, or a girl with chestnut brown hair and wearing red armor?"

"Not that I can recall, sorry." He shrugged apologetically. I groaned. We were stuck without a lead.

"Thanks anyways. Contact me if you see them and manage to escape. The ones in black, anyways, they're dangerous. Malistaire Drake and Moira Moonchaser. The girl in red is Donna Dragonflame, one of my best friends. My name is Alexandra Firesong. Guys, come on! We don't have a lead; we'd better get searching."

"Wait a moment. I haven't seen any of the people you're looking for, but there's something suspicious going on here. Citizens have been reporting seeing an odd black shape running around the city, and there have been disappearances. That shape may have something to do with the ones you're chasing."

"Okay. Where has it been seen most recently?"

"It was last sighted by Deirdre and Desmond Dreadful of Chelsea Court. They live at Number-"

"57. I know." I interrupted. "I know their daughter, Penny. Thanks for the help." We left the church.

"That's not good. A black shape appearing, and then disappearances? Penny's parents could be in danger." Destiny said, clearly concerned. I nodded.

"The last balloon leaves for Chelsea Court at nine. What time is it, Erica?" She glanced at a huge clock mounted on a pole.

"Almost 8:45," she replied nervously.

"We'd better hurry, then, if we want to get to Digmoore Station in 15 minutes! Heather, you've been here the most times out of us all; can you lead us there?" The Conjurer nodded uncertainly.

"W-we're at Wolfm-minster Abbey. We have t-to turn r-right." Her stutter was getting worse. We turned left. "K-keep going straight until you s-see Felicia W-worthington. She's the c-crafter."

"We'd better run." I decided. We ran. Heather was in the front, leading us uncertainly. A few minutes later, we came to a small, gray brick building. The light brown curtains were fluttering in the breeze, and there were pansies growing in the window boxes. A dog in a dress and a bonnet was sitting on the doorstep.

"Hi, F-felicia," Heather called, waving to the dog. She waved back as we ran by her.

"You'd best hurry, Heather! The last balloon leaves in five minutes!"

"How'd she know where we were going," I asked her.

"Remember when I stayed here for a year to fight the cats?" I nodded. "I wasn't used to the train system or the layout of the city, and I was ALWAYS late for my balloon. Felicia ended up teaching me how to get around faster."

"Got it." We ran into Digmoore Station just as a bell rang, marking 9:00.

"Is the balloon still here?" The frog at the desk nodded, pointing towards a platform. There was a sign that said "Chelsea Court" and a green balloon car was waiting there.

"Be careful, wizards! Marleybone is dangerous at night," the frog called as we ran towards the balloon car. I gave him a thumbs up over my shoulder as I jumped onto the car.

Strangely enough, my friends and I were the only ones on the car. Usually, all Marleybone balloon cars were filled, even the last ones of the night. I wasn't complaining; the normally-packed wooden benches were empty, and I was actually comfortable for once. The seven of us sat close together and plotted.

"We've got to be ready. Moira could attack at any time. She's death with life as a secondary school, so nothing can boost her. Our only hope is to use all the other schools against her. Erica, can you use your balance stuff? The only wizard type we don't have is Balance."

"Sure. I'll be right back." She went to one of the bathrooms to change. A few minutes later, she returned, dressed in light Krokotopian robes dyed white and blue. I couldn't help but smile in amusement, thinking of what Donna's comment would be. _Those clothes are weird looking! They're Ice colors, but summery robes!_ I could almost hear the Pyromancer's voice.

A few minutes later, there was an announcement: "Attention passengers! We will be stopping at Hyde Park in a few minutes. You may depart from there if you wish."

"Why are we stopping at Hyde Park? This balloon isn't even on that route," Heather wondered aloud.

"I'll go find out." Evan stood and walked towards the front of the balloon. He returned a minute later and said, "There are two wizards stranded there, and they sent a distress call to the balloon."

"That would explain it," I said to myself. "Thanks, Evan." He nodded.

Five minutes later, the balloon slowly started to release air, drifting down towards the Hyde Park Station. I could see two figures standing on the platform. As we got closer, I could tell that they were about the same height, probably around the same age, too. We landed, and they boarded the balloon car, waving and saying thank-you's to the pilot. The two girls took seats in the back of the car.

"Hi. I'm Alexandra. Who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Chelsea Dayriver level 28 Theurgist, and this is my friend Liz Thundereyes, level 38." I detected a touch of smugness in Chelsea's voice, like she felt I was below her. I glanced at my friends skeptically, and eventually, Ashley was the one who did our intro's.

"Hi, Chelsea and Liz. I'm Ashley, and these are my friends: Erica, Heather, Brooke, Destiny, Evan, and Alexandra. We're all Legendaries." I could just see Chelsea's thoughts of superiority disintegrate as soon as she heard the word "legendary." Erica gave me a look.

_"Be nice, Alexandra,"_ she whispered.

_"Make me,"_ I whispered back. Meanwhile, Ashley and Destiny were talking to the younger girls.

"So, why are you headed to Chelsea Court?"

"We're just going home for the night. We were fighting the cats in Hyde Park all day."

"I remember when I was sent here to fight for a month. Those were SO hard to fight."

"Yeah. Why are YOU going to Chelsea Court?"

"We're tracking two people and a shadow. Have you seen a tall man dressed in black, or maybe an albino Necromancer?" Trust Destiny to turn the topic to the quest. She was good at getting back on topic, I had to admit.

"Nope. Nothing. Are you actually gonna track the Shadow? People say that as soon as you see the shadow, you disappear. With some, their bodies are found days later, and some are never found."

"Creepy, but ghost stories can't scare us away. We've got to find out what it really is." Ashley sounded confident, but I heard her voice waver. She was just as worried about the shadow as everyone else. I was a tiny bit nervous, but hey! It was a SHADOW. I dealt with things from the dark every day of my life. One more shadow would be no problem.

When we arrived in Chelsea Court, Liz said goodbye and left. Chelsea, however, stuck around.

"Can I come with you?" She finally blurted out.

"Why?"

"I-well-I want to fight something harder. The cats are easy, but until I get to Magus, I can't go to Mooshu . . . my world."

"Uh . . . I guess so . . . Alexandra, what do you think?" I regarded the young Theurgist warily. She was only 16, two years younger and less experienced, and she was only level 28. Our work was dangerous. Then again, she would be with seven Legendaries. There couldn't be any harm in bringing her along, and besides: she was an extra healer.

"Okay, I suppose. Just-make sure you don't get in our way. We've got serious work to do that concerns the safety of the Spiral. One slip up and you're going back to fighting cats."

"Okay. I'll be helpful, I promise." I nodded, satisfied.

"Come on, then. We'll explain what we're doing on the way." We explained about Malistaire-and more importantly, Moira- to the black haired, blue eyed girl. She listened silently the whole time, while Heather navigated us through the winding Court. After nearly 10 minutes of walking, we arrived at Number 57. It was a big place, made of brick that looked gray in the night, but could have been any color. It was at least four floors high, and there were six stone steps leading up to the wide black door. Under the tiny peep-hole was a gold 57 and the name Dreadful, and there was also a gold knocker, a simple loop of gold with a skull in the middle. There was a light in the window, so I knocked. I heard footsteps, and the door was opened by a teen-aged girl. She was tall, with copper colored skin and dark gingerbread brown eyes. Her hair was glossy and black, and it fell to her shoulders. The girl was wearing a black dress with gold buttons down the front. I recognized her immediately.

"Alexandra Firesong? Is that you?" She asked. Her voice wasn't as squeaky as it had been, but she still had a thick British accent. I grinned at her.

"Hello, Penny."

"Oh, gosh! Alexandra, I haven't seen you in years! How have you been?"

"Pretty good, and you?" I replied, hugging my friend.

"Oh, pretty good. Come in, come in! Erica, Destiny, Ashley, Heather, Brooke and Evan, right? And who's this? I've never seen you before." Penny stared at Chelsea.

"Penny, this is Chelsea Dayriver. We just met her today, and she's coming to help with the quest we're on."

"Quest?" She sounded confused. I explained what had happened with Malistaire.

"Oh, poor you! That's awful! I'll miss Sylvia; she was such a nice lady."

"Yeah," I muttered. "So, can we talk to your parents? We heard that they saw the black shadow." Penny's face fell.

"I thought you'd get to that eventually. Come with me." She led us into a parlor of some sort. The walls were wallpapered gold, and the carpet was soft blue. The room was lit by dim lamps and a few candles. The place looked warm and inviting, with the exception of the person sitting on the couch. It was a woman dressed in a long sleeved, high collared black dress and hood. Her long black hair was tucked partly under the hood, but most of it hung messily around her shoulders. Her brown eyes were cast at the floor, and her hands were clasped together tightly. It was Mrs. Dreadful.

"What happened?" Erica whispered.

"She's been like this for a few days now. I'm not sure what happened, to be honest, but before she went quiet, she was talking about a shadow and Dad getting taken," Penny whispered back. I nodded.

"Destiny, do you think that you can heal her?"

"I'll try my best." The Theurgist pulled out her wand and cast a healing spell on Mrs. Dreadful. The woman shuddered and looked up, her eyes sad and empty.

"Hello, Mrs. Dreadful. I know this is going to be painful, but can you tell me about seeing the shadow, and your husband getting captured?"

"We-my husband and I- were walking home three nights two of us saw something dark flit across a window, and then it disappeared. While we were walking by an alley, something grabbed Desmond and pulled him in.I was knocked unconscious and woke up here." Deirdre shivered and went silent. I nodded.

"Thank you so much, Mrs. Dreadful. We'll get your husband back, don't worry. "

"You will? Oh, thank you, Alexandra!" Penny exclaimed. "I'd come with you, but I have to take care of my mother. The alley they were near was only about a minute's walk straight from here."

"Thanks, Penny. We'll bring your dad back soon, I promise. Chelsea, can you stay here? I don't want you running into something that might be deadly."

"No. I'm coming," she replied stubbornly.

"Chelsea, we're going to attack a shadow that kidnapped Mr. Dreadful! It won't be afraid to take you, too!"

"I don't care. Nothing you can say will make me change my mind." She folded her arms and glared. I sighed.

"Okay, fine. Come. Get yourself killed." I said, turning and opening the door. The eight of us departed for the alley.

I immediately knew which alley it was: the one with the bones in the front. Chelsea shrank back, staring at the bones in shock and horror.

"Having second thoughts?"

"N-no, not at all. Let's go." She acted like she was going to step forwards, but I pushed her back a little.

"Stay in the center of the group. It's too dangerous to be in the front or back. Destiny, come with me at the front. Erica, Evan, guard the back. Brooke, Heather, Ashley, take the sides. Chelsea, STAY IN THE CENTER." I stepped forwards into the dark tunnel, holding my wand in front of me cautiously. Nothing. I continued nothing. Feeling slightly braver, I walked several steps forwards, and my friends followed. We walked all the way to the end of the tunnel. Standing on top of a box, illuminated by the moon, were two people: one was a boy dressed all in white, the other, a girl wearing all black. Moira.

"I hope you've got a grave dug, Moonchaser." Brooke snapped, glaring at Moira. In her eyes was a light, a kind of rage that I'd never seen before. I watched Moira's face closely, trying not to let my extreme rage take over my mind.

"What? You want me dead? Come on, Brooke. Your friend didn't seem to have this much fight in her."

"What did you DO to her? Where is she?" I yelled, practically picturing Moira's body being burned, ever . . . so . . . slowly . . .

"Lady Moira, are you sure this is a good idea?" The boy asked nervously.

"Shut up, Arthas. I've already done the job; you can't persuade me otherwise now. Are you really sure you want to see her, Alex?"

"AlexA-N-D-R-A. ALEXANDRA. Not Alex," I growled, "and yes. Let her go." Moira sighed.

"Oh, well. Don't say I didn't try. Arthas, remember this. I DID try and dissuade them. By the way, did you like my poetry? It was on-the-spot improv. I'm rather proud of that little thing myself."

"You're stalling."

"Oh, I suppose. Here's your friend." She reached up and pulled on a cord. Something large made a "thud" noise as it hit the ground, clearly dropped from the ground. I inspected closer, and promptly screamed like a girly-girl that had just seen a mouse. The thing was Donna's body, with hand prints encircling her collapsed throat and a look of terror on her childish face. Donna, the most immature, innocent, childlike of us all had been murdered.

_**A/N:** DON'T KILL ME! *Shrinks into a little ball* Firestorm sowy. She had to kill Donna because it was a plot device. Please tell me that ONE of you saw that coming! . . . pretty please? Oh, well. Here's my attempt at being sane: I really am sorry for killing Donna, to those of you who like her. I had other reasons for killing her besides just the plot device thingy. :( I'm planning on letting her live in Liar, Liar (that's Donna's back story, by the way) or possibly doing something from her point of view after her death. Think about it this way: now Alexandra gets to kick Moira's butt . . . possibly. Anyways, there will be a fight scene by SuperYuuki next chapter. Tear Drops 1221, how did I do with Liz? Sorry her appearance was so short; let me know if you want her to appear again. BelleshippingGirl, same thing. How did I do with Chelsea? She will definitely be in future chapters._  
><em>Okay, Firestorm's done now. She's gotta go write happy stuff before she starts crying . . . *sob* : ...( (That's my crying face)<em>


	37. Chapter 37: Donna

_**A/N:** This chapter is not a part of the actual story, but rather a chapter that is a tribute to Donna. It's full of little moments in Donna's past that are significant and/or special to me. Some are VERY short, under 100 words, even, but they've all been combined into one big chapter. I still feel REALLY bad about killing her, so this is sort of my way of apologizing to her. Just so you're aware, I have published my website with pictures of the characters. The link is on my profile, if you're interested. Just so you're not confused, Selina and Greg are Donna's parents._

_**Warnings:** A little sad at the end, since there's a scene with Donna's parents after they find out what happened. Possible spoilers for a sequel-UH, I MEAN . . . okay, you got me. : / There's going to be a sequel. The title has been picked and chapter one has been written, so as soon as this story is finished, the sequel will be started. Previews may start in Mooshu, or I might be evil and wait until Dragonspyre._

**_Note: SuperYuuki still has Writer's Block, but she is working on chapter 39._**

**Moment One: Four Hours**

Selina stared down at the baby in her arms. It was a girl, one with big brown eyes and a tiny bit of fuzzy red hair. As the baby squirmed a little bit, trying to look behind her, Selina laughed.

"What should we name her," Greg asked his wife, smiling at his one day old daughter. Selina thought.

"Donna. It sounds like a happy, energetic name, and that's what she'll probably be someday. I know it." Donna squeaked softly, staring curiously at her mother. Both of her parents laughed as she watched them.

**Moment Two: Six Months**

"WAAAAAAH!" The wail came from Donna's bedroom. Immediately, Greg stood and hurried inside, expecting to see her crying and leaning against the crib. She'd probably banged her head again . . .

"Selina? Come here. Now."

"What happened? Is she okay?"

"Just come here. Bring your camera." He spoke quietly and slowly, as if he didn't want to startle Donna. Selina rushed inside in a panic, sure that something had happened to her daughter. Instead, she laughed. Donna was standing in her crib, holding on to the railing. Tears were pouring from her eyes.

"I guess she forgot how to get back down," Selina suggested, walking over to the crib to pick up her daughter.

**Moment Three: One Year**

"Donna, come here," Selina called from her seat in the garden. Donna was sitting a little ways away, playing with something. She didn't move, but looked up. She looked past Selina, looked past the garden, and over to the butterfly feeder.

"Buffwy," she exclaimed, pointing to the feeder. Selina looked. There was indeed a butterfly there, an enormous red one.

"Greg! Donna said her first word!" Her husband ran over.

"What did she say? Mama? Dada?"

"No, she said 'butterfly!'" He looked at his daughter strangely. The one year old laughed and clapped her hands.

**Moment Four: Five Years**

"Have fun, Donna!" Selina waved to her daughter as she entered her classroom. The teacher, Miss Redflame, took Donna's hand and led her into the classroom. It was Donna's first day of pre-magic school. As her daughter disappeared into the classroom, Selina sighed. Everything was going by so quickly; it seemed like only a day ago that Donna had stood up in her crib. Very soon, she would be going to Ravenwood, and then she might not see her daughter again for a long, long time.

**Moment Five: 10 Years**

Selina stared tearfully at the bed. The Theurgist Department had promised that Donna would live, but after the brutal, out-of-control fire started on her pant leg had most likely left her leg permanently damaged. The Theurgists had said that Donna might never walk again. The parents of the four boys were under serious pressure from the media, who called them "Parents of Murderers" and "Irresponsible." They weren't dealing with it well. The boys were being put on trial, regardless of age, and would most likely be sent to prison for several years. Nothing could compensate for what had been done, though. Donna was a child who loved to run, to play, to sing and dance in the rain. She might never be able to do the things she loved. The girl in question raised her head.

"Mom?" Her voice was hoarse and soft, nothing like it had been just days before, the day she'd danced in the rain for the last time. "Can I have some water?"

"Of course, baby. Here." She poured a glass of water and handed it to Donna, who gulped at it thirstily. She smiled. It was a weak, wobbly smile, but a smile nonetheless.

"Thanks. When can I get up?" Her face was so expecting, so curious that it broke Selina's heart. She knew that at some point, she'd have to tell Donna the news.

"Well . . . the Theurgists have run some tests, and they think . . . they think . . . "

"That I won't be able to stand again, right?" She stared at her daughter, shocked. Donna's face was still bright and inquisitive, not showing a trace of sadness or disappointment. Slowly, she nodded. Donna smiled again. "Sure I will! I bet I can right now. Remember when I was really little, and I stood up in my crib months before I should have been able to?"

"Yes . . . "

"If I can stand up at six months old, I can stand up now. Watch!" She threw back her sheets, a look of determination and excitement on her face. Selina winced as the burn on her right leg was visible, a long, angry red blister that covered her leg from the thigh to the ankle. Donna swung her legs off the bed and gripped the I.V. tightly, took a deep breath, and slid off the bed. Her legs supported her. She was wobbly on her feet, true, but she was standing. "Now I'm going to walk." She took a hesitant step forwards, still using the I.V. for support, and then another step. And another. And another. Soon, she was slowly walking in a circle around the room. The ten year old laughed, smiling brightly at her mother, who was crying tears of happiness. The door was flung open, and three Theurgists, followed by Greg, ran into the room. Donna turned her brilliant smile towards them.

"How in the Spiral-" one of the Theurgists started, gaping at her.

"Look, Dad, I'm walking! They said I wouldn't ever walk, but I am anyways!" Donna's laugh was genuine, untainted by sadness. The injured young girl was purely happy, smiling like she'd just met her greatest idol. However, the Theurgists noticed something, and they regrettably pointed it out to Donna and her parents.

"My dear, I'm afraid you have a limp. I doubt it will ever go away," the head Theurgist told her gently. Donna shrugged.

"I don't care! I can still dance with a limp. I'll be a butterfly with a broken wing. I can still fly, just not quite as high." Selina stared at her daughter, still crying joyful tears. For an 11 year old, she was acting surprisingly mature and uncaring. She had no doubt that Donna would become a very important and powerful girl one day.

**Moment Six: 17 Years**

The Dragonflames stared up at the stage, smiling joyfully. Donna stood on it, and next to her was the old Headmaster.

"Donna Dragonflame, do you swear to protect the Spiral, to use your magic for good purposes only, and to honor the name of our school?" Donna's answer was firm, unhesitating, and clear.

"I do."

"Then I name you Donna Dragonflame, Legendary Pyromancer of Ravenwood!" The Commons erupted into cheers, applauding her hard work and success. Greg hugged his wife, and they wove their way through the crowds to the edge of the stage. Donna laughed happily, clapping as though she were a young child still. She waved to her parents, her smile shining brighter than the sun. They would always be proud of their brave little girl, no matter where she went or how long she stayed away. They would always love her.

**Moment Seven: 18 Years**

Selina sat in the dim living room, the curtains drawn against the glare of the midday sun. She sighed as she stared at the picture of Donna on the wall. Her daughter had been gone almost a year, now, and she was beginning to wonder if Donna was ever coming back. She sighed as Greg entered the room.

"Still sitting there," he asked. Selina had vowed not to leave the living room until Donna returned home from her perilous journey. The woman nodded tiredly. A whole year, and she hadn't left the room once. "Well, I've got to go to work, so be careful, okay? Here's your lunch." He set down a bowl of chicken noodle soup, some crackers, a bowl of salad, a spoon, and a fork. "I'll be back later." He turned and left the house, leaving her alone.

**_-20 MINUTES LATER-_**

Selina took the last bite of her salad before setting aside the bowl. She wiped her fingers on a napkin and settled back in her chair to wait. Suddenly, she heard a knock.

"Come in," she called softly. The knob turned, and the door was pushed open. In the doorway, a tall girl stood, silhouetted by the daylight. "Donna? . . . Is that you?" The girl took a few steps forwards . It was Alexandra Firesong.

"Hey, Mrs. D.," she said quietly.

"Alexandra! You're back! Is-is Donna with you?" The Necromancer slowly, slowly shook her head.

"He's defeated. We beat him, but there was a price . . . Donna was-she's . . . dead." Selina stared at her for a minute, completely in shock. "She saved Brooke's life in Krokotopia, but she was kidnapped by Moira Moonchaser. Moira gave us her body when we caught up to her in Marleybone. We took care of her, too, don't worry. Donna was one of my best friends, and I did my best to avenge her. I'm so sorry." The Legendary wizard whispered the last three words, the three words that Selina had dreaded. Tears began to escape from her eyes. Faster and faster they came, and soon they were pouring down her cheeks like twin waterfalls.

"No, Donna!" She shrieked in sorrow, and Alexandra closed her eyes, as though she was trying to hold back tears of her own. The Necromancer let Selina cry for a while, and then she shut the door and approached the bookshelves. She scanned the lines of books, stopping at a fat red one. Alexandra pulled the book off the shelf and flipped it open as she carried it to Selina's seat. Carefully, she slid the book onto the woman's lap. She gasped in surprise. A picture beamed up at her, a picture of Donna at her Legendary Wizard ceremony. Next to that picture was a picture of Donna standing with all of the people that had gone on the quest. Evan stood off to the side a bit, and Alexandra was next in the picture, her lips pressed into a thin smile, her eyelids drooping and bored. Beside the Necromancer was Destiny, who was smiling shyly, and Ashley, grinning flirtatiously, as usual. Erica was next to her fellow Thaumaturge, smiling awkwardly with her arms crossed over a fat textbook. Her puffy blue pigtails stuck out to the sides, one almost covering Brooke's face. Of course, next to Brooke was Donna, who had thrown her arms over Brooke's and Heather's shoulders. Brooke was laughing, too, and Heather was giggling.

"She came with us of her own choice, she fought for us bravely, and she died more courageously than anyone in our group could have. She gave up her life to save Brooke's, threw herself back into the fire to stop the whole place from collapsing on us. Moira took her life like only a true villain would, through torture. Donna never said a word to harm us. After she died, we went on to defeat both Moira and Malistaire, and in the process, I lost the only REAL father I ever had. Donna will be happy; when she's with the Titans, she can dance in the rain all she wants. She can sing for the Dragons and dance in front of the Tritons, and she will be the most loved soul in all of the Heavens. Don't worry, Mrs. D. Don't mourn over her death, but celebrate her life. If you want, we're throwing a party to thank her. It will take place in the Commons tomorrow afternoon. Please come." Alexandra slowly melted back into the shadows, disappearing as quickly as she had come. Selina stared at the picture, concentrating only on Donna's face. However, she realized something. It WASN'T just about Donna. Slowly, she let her eyes travel to each of the other wizards' faces, taking in their expressions. They all loved Donna dearly, and had they been in her position, every one of them would have died for her daughter. Donna hadn't died for nothing; she had died doing what she loved second best: protecting the ones she loved and the places she cherished. If only she could have been doing what she loved most of all . . . carefully, Selina turned back to page one. There was only one picture on that page. It was an image of Donna, who had her arms spread wide, her head back, her eyes closed, and her mouth open in a joyful laugh. She was dancing in the rain.

_**A/N:** I'm actually rather proud of the last moment, but, hey! You're the readers. Did I do our dear friend justice with this story? I hope she likes it, and that someday, you people will forgive me for killing her. :'(_

_If you want to read more into detail on Donna's past, her back-story has been published. It's called "Liar, Liar." There are also stories about Brooke and Sabrina, which are called "Tempest Flame: Tale of the Swiftriver" and "It's Life or Death, Really." Last thing: My brother has published his first story! It's called "Blade of Stars," and it is the back-story for Evan Starblade. Okay! I'm done now._


	38. Chapter 38: Reveal

_**A/N: **__Here's another chapter by SuperYuuki!_

The weather had decided to be unusually ornery that evening. The wind chilled her bare arms, causing her to shiver. She exhaled, her breath clearly visible. "Arthas, you fool …" she began. The boy looked up, the question evident in his eyes. Moira sighed. "The new robes … these aren't warm enough."

He did a double take, blinking a few times. "I … I apologize, my lady. I will make necessary adjustments when we return home," he said stiffly.

Moira's chest puffed out defensively. "What the hell? Are you _offended_?"

He gave her a strange look and sighed. "No milady, it simply... isn't really cold out tonight."

She deflated. "Oh. Well, that's your goddamned opinion," she replied lamely. It was a shame though, having to change the whole thing. Her new robes had a high-neck and fit tightly, giving her an elegant look. She also wore her normal black and white striped leggings and boots. "Perhaps instead of altering the entire ensemble, perhaps a cloak could be added?"

He nodded, his eyes distant. "Of course."

Moira scowled. "See to it."

Arthas smirked. "If her majesty commands." She ignored his sass. She was anxious. Alex would be arriving soon. If all went as she wanted it to, she would remain calm during the inevitable confrontation. She really was getting sick of this crap. She really could care less about Malistare and whatever had him steamed.

Oh. Footsteps. How... pleasant. She tensed. Arthas placed a hand at the small of her back, but she flinched away from his touch. He let it go wordlessly. The following confrontation was not one Moira would look back on fondly. At least, not the first half. The first half was basically just both sides blowing off steam. The real business was when she revealed the corpse of Alex's friend.

Moira stared flatly at Alex as the kind Necromancer's face went pale. Donna had been strangled, yes, but not by her. Those hand prints were too large and alien to be her own. No, it had been her pet's doing. A complete and total accident as well, as far as her plans went. Blackbird wasn't exactly the easiest beast to keep on a leash. It was too sentient, too human-like, even after being broken.

Brooke screamed a horrid mix of pure rage and anguish, and Moira winced at the sound.

"You'll pay for this, Moira Moonchaser! You'll _pay_!" Tears running down her face, Brooke gripped her wand and charged at the cruel Necromancer, only to be stopped by Arthas.

"Lady Moira has no business with you. If you have a problem, take it up with me," he said with a surprising amount of force.

"NO!" she yelled.

"Brooke," Alex said coldly, "...back down. Moira's mine."

"I'm guessing it won't help to say I didn't do this."

"Nope, since I don't believe you."

"Well, that's not my problem, is it? You don't want to believe me? Fine. Whatever. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to take care of, and I wouldn't trust Malistaire alone for a second." She turned as if to leave, but a shout stopped her.

"You're a child of the Devil himself, Moira Moonchaser, and only you would be cowardly enough to kill an innocent like Donna! You'll never amount to anything more than a coward and a bully!" She had to restrain herself from spinning around and cursing at the other Necromancer. Slowly, with some difficulty, she turned around and locked her dark gaze on Alex's. Moira barely disguising her surprise; Alex's eyes were so cold, so dead, that they barely seemed human any longer. She was radiating a silent, almost maddeningly calm anger- the worst kind.

"Don't mention my parents, Alex Firesong," Moira warned coldly.

"Your father was the Devil, and your mother was a banshee," Alex taunted in reply, her fist clenched tightly on her wand. That _wand_!

"Ha! If it weren't for that wand of yours, you'd be _nothing_!" Moira taunted, the rage within her swelling.

Alexandra sent Moira a mild glare. "And you're any different?" She didn't dare. That... that little _bitch_!

Her hands curled into tight balls as she lunged for the fellow Necromancer. Her fist connected harshly with Alex's face, the wizard's head jerking abruptly to the side. "Don't you _dare _compare yourself to me! We are _nothing _alike!" They were polar opposites. They had to be. Moira could never live with herself if she turned out to be like Alex. She hated Alex. She hated Alex so much. She hated her. _Hated her_! Such a vehement hatred that it began to bubble and boil, until it overflowed…

... into despair.

Tears touched her pale cheeks as she sank to her knees before Alex. She doubled-in on herself, her arms wrapping tightly around her mid-section. "I hate you _all_!" she screamed. Alexandra put a hand to her mouth, only for it to come away bloody. The inside of her cheek had been cut up when it met her teeth so hard. She stared in shock for a moment before leaning to the side to spit out the blood.

After the initial blankness in his mind, Arthas immediately jumped into preventing a disaster. "Blackbird! Sabrina!" He waited for them to come into sight- Sabrina sauntering, Blackbird slinking. "You keep the others occupied." He didn't wait for their reply before running over to his mistress. Arthas gently placed his hand on Moira's shoulder. "Lady Moira, we must depart post-haste." She slapped his hand away but he simply grabbed her arms and helped her up. "Come, my Lady, we must go, now." Her resistance ceased and they rose back to the dais.

Moira composed herself somewhat, but her eyes were still puffy and red. "Newbie, Blackbird, I leave you two to finish the job."

And with that, the pair teleported home.


	39. Chapter 39: Blackbird

_**A/N:**__ My GOSH! This thing is already 40 chapters long! _

_**Disclaimer: **__Rwy'n dymuno__Rwy'n__berchen__Wizard101__,__ond dydw i ddim__.__Mae popeth__ond mae fy__cymeriadau__gwreiddiol__a fy__syniadau__yn perthyn i__KingsIsle__. (Google translate loves you! ;) It's Welsh, by the way.)_

_Alexandra's P.O.V._

I stared at the stack of boxes, where only a few seconds ago, Moira and that boy . . . -Artur? Arthas?- had been standing. They had disappeared in a dust cloud, leaving us up against Sabrina (dirty traitor) and that . . . _thing._ It barely looked human, although I could tell that, at one point, it had been a girl about my age. It-she-was bent nearly in half, with her arms thrown out to the side to balance her and her feet close together. Haunted, wolflike black eyes stared at her with some sort of strange expression: fear? Anger, perhaps? Or was it no expression at all? A hooded black cape was flung over her shoulders, tied stranglingly tightly at her throat, and the hood was pulled low over her face, shrouding her in darkness. Long, black and violet hair slipped from the sides, and her messy bangs hung in her eyes. Her skin was so pale, it was like paper, so thin that every vein was visible. Ragged black robes hung loosely from her emaciated figure, making it seem like she wore a large sack. Her feet were bare. The girl held no wand, but her nails were long and sharp. Sabrina, who stood slightly behind the girl, looked slightly terrified of the thing, and her eyes were strangely wide and dark.

"They're possessed," Erica whispered, her eyes widening in shock. I nodded, tightening my grip on my wand even more.

"Sabrina," I called softly. "Come here." I was testing her reaction style. Would she react like a robot, would she retain her pompous personality, would she not react at all? The Theurgist slowly switched her gaze to me.

"You're an enemy, now, Alex Firesong. I obey only my mistress and master." I groaned inwardly.

"Couldn't she have at LEAST trained you to say 'Alexandra?'" Erica shoved me gently, her eyes warning me to be quiet. I nodded, and she stepped forwards. I knew that the Thaumaturge was a genius (She'd learned "A few things" when she'd read every book in the library) but could she reverse the possession spell?

"Sabrina. Who are your friends?" The Theurgist thought, completely puzzled by the question.

"Umm . . . I have no friends. I'm a worthless being."

"Wrong. You do have friends. We're your friends."

"No, you're not. You're my enemies."

"Gosh, she's dumb even when she's possessed," I muttered to Brooke, who nodded, the tears not yet dry on her face. Erica shot me a Look before continuing.

"You're not worthless. Think of your mother, Sabrina. You have to rescue her." THAT certainly struck home. Sabrina gasped in pain and clutched her heart, staring at Erica.

"My-my . . . mother . . . "

"Yes. Your mother. Marieta Jadeleaf, Legendary Theurgist. What happened to her, Sabrina?" The Thaumaturge's voice had taken on a soft, deep tone that seemed to even calm Brooke and a very panicky Heather.

"She . . . did she die?"

"No, she didn't die. Think, Sabrina. Do you know who Morganthe is?"

_**"MORGANTHE KIDNAPPED MY MOTHER! **_I remeber now! She killed Allie Sandstorm and Torrence Swiftriver, and she cursed Mortis Starblade and kidnapped Marieta Jadeleaf! Marieta Jadeleaf is my mother!" Sabrina's voice rose to a shriek, and the creature looked at her strangely. It made a strange noise, kind of like a squeak or a whine, and then turned back to face us. It began studying each of us intently. The creature was determining whether or not we were a threat, just like an animal. Erica's eyes never left Sabrina's, though. She kept watching the Theurgist as her eyes lightened and relaxed slightly.

"You're back. Now, you'd better move _really _slowly if you want to get past that thing safely," Erica suggested. Sabrina looked around, stunned slightly, and then she noticed the creature. She seemed completely lost for a moment, and then her eyes brightened.

"Blackbird, they're on our side. Leave them alone. Now, sit." It sat, staring up at Sabrina with wide eyes. "Stay there," the Theurgist said firmly, starting down the stack of boxes towards us. Blackbird obeyed, her eyes following Sabrina closely.

"So . . . what are we gonna do with _that?"_ I pointed to Blackbird.

"Blackbird? Umm... well, as far as I can tell, since Moira and Arthas aren't here, I think she'll listen to me, but there's a problem: I don't know anything about her, so you can't un-possess her, and she needs some sort of pendant to turn her human again. I don't know much, but she actually looks like a sane, healthy human when she's wearing it.

"Does Moira have it?"

"As far as I know." I cursed under my breath.

"Erica? Any ideas?" The Thaumature slowly nodded.

"First of all, we don't depossess Blackbird. I don't know anything that would cause her to revert, and besides, she might not listen to Sabrina if we revert her now. As soon as we can, we have to recover the pendant from Moira, and then we have to find out a way to revert Blackbird, but only after she's got her pendant back on. Sabrina, any ideas where Moira's hideout is?" She shook her head.

"I was in the dungeon most of the time. I only saw Malistaire once or twice, and the same with Arthas. When we left the dungeon, Moira teleported the two of us out. I have no idea where we were."

"Any windows," I asked.

"Of course not! It was a DUNGEON, stupid." Clearly, her rescue hadn't removed Sabrina's rudeness at all.

"What was the temperature?"

"How should I know? It was kind of warm; that's all I noticed."

"Really warm? Hot? Just warm?"

"Hot, I guess." I thought. I knew that it was probably in Dragonspyre; Tristan had mentioned the world when discussing Bat. But where exactly WAS the dungeon? That was the question that needed answering.

"What are you thinking?" Erica stared at me expectantly.

"It's somewhere in Dragonspyre; I'm 80% sure of that. I just don't know where it is, exactly." She wordlessly flipped open her notebook and handed it to me. On the page she was open to was drawn a very detailed, very skillful map of Dragonspyre. "I didn't know you were this good at drawing, Erica." She shrugged.

"You learn something new every day, don't you?" I inspected the map.

"They'd want someplace remote, where no one would think to look for them. Somewhere like the Crown of Fire," I realized, pointing to a mountain. It was known as The Great Spyre, one of the highest mountains in the Spiral. At the top, there was an abandoned shrine to the Dragon Titan. It was said to protect Dragonspyre from the Titan, if he ever awoke, although it hadn't worked the first time . . . the time my house had been destroyed. The shrine was out of use, but it was called The Crown of Fire, since it topped the mountain and was pointed around the top, like a gigantic crown. It had to be there.

"Chelsea, there's no way you're coming with us to Dragonspyre. It's WAY too dangerous for a level 28 Life wizard." The Theurgist's face changed from a look of sadness and fear into one of defiance and anger.

"No. You guys can protect me, can't you? Besides, my secondary school is Ice, and Dragonspyre is all Fire. I can do damage to them." Sabrina took one look at the younger Theurgist and nodded.

"Let her come, Alexandra. She can prove her worth. If she gets in the way, she can sit on the sidelines and watch until we can transport her somewhere safe. Besides, do you really want to waste time arguing? I thought you were going to track Moira and kill her for what she did to Donna." She'd hit a bad spot, and my eyes narrowed. I growled, deep in the very back of my throat.

"She's deader than a snowman in a volcano," I snapped, "but I'm not going to endanger Chelsea."

"I won't get in the way, I promise! I just want to be able to go home!"

"Fine. Whatever. Come. Get yourself killed. See if I care. Now, come on. We've got to find Mr. Dreadful, return him to Penny and Mrs. D, and start looking for the Mooshu Spiral Key. The Dragonspyre Key will be in Mooshu; I just know it. Sabrina, can your . . . uh . . . pet, can it track things WITHOUT killing them?"

"No need. Mr. Dreadful is unconscious behind those boxes." She pointed. "I'll take him home. Can someone help me?"

"Gasp, is the great Sabrina Jadeleaf asking for HELP? Even more shocking, is she actually DOING SOMETHING besides sitting around on her butt and ordering the rest of us around?" Ashley's sarcastic comment lightened the mood slightly, and Erica and Evan grinned. Sabrina glared at her.

"Shut it, Thaumaturge."

"YOU shut it, Theurgist. Come on, let's get Mr. D back where he belongs."

"We'll start looking for the key. Meet us at the Royal Museum." We split into groups and departed.

_**A/N: **__Sorry about the lame ending; my Muse has deserted me, and is now hiding in Tempest Flame. I'll try and make the next chapter better, and by the way, Marleybone will only be about two more chapters. I know I'm rushing it, but as I said, issues make my brain hurt, thus making me think less and not work as hard. OKAY BYE!_


	40. Chapter 40: Big Ben

_**A/N:**__ I am ashamed with myself. It's been WAAAY too long since my last update, so hopefully this chapter will make up for it. Christmas + an all-nighter + New Year's + MASSIVE family issues = NO TIME. The one good thing (for this story) was that for Christmas, I got a subscription and completed Marleybone (ugh! I HATED it!) so I have an accurate reference now! XD Yay! :) Well, here it is: chapter 41!_

_Thanks to my reviewers: SuperYuuki, Lord Energy, scarletfireblaze and Percabeth03! :) You guys are awesome!_

_SuperYuuki: I'm glad you like it. :)_

_Scarletfireblaze: Thanks! I'm sure you'll learn even more as the story progresses. :)_

_Lord Energy: Yes indeed, I did mention Mortis, although you might not be pleased with how I include him later. I'll show you the chapters ahead of time. Oh, and Allie and Torrence will be mentioned more, too. They play a bigger part towards the end, and a MUCH bigger part in the sequel._

_Percabeth03: Thanks for the review, and I'll work on putting Kayla in the sequel. :)_

I stared up at the Royal Museum. I had been to Marleybone before, but the monstrous size of the buildings and the fantastic architecture never ceased to amaze me. Erica, Brooke, Evan, Heather, Destiny and Chelsea stood near me, fiddling with their wands, tugging on their robes, or just staring into space. Brooke was still crying a bit, and my frown deepened when I looked at her. No one should be able to cause that kind of pain, to be able to steal an innocent life so easily. It was too wrong to be possible. And yet, somehow, it had happened. A soft growl sounded deep in my throat, and I spun around, searching for a sign of Sabrina, Ashley and Blackbird while pacing back and forth. I rubbed my cheek. Destiny had healed it for me. It still hurt. There were too many unanswered questions. Why Moira was able to punch so hard, for one. Why she would murder Donna was another. A third was why she had joined Malistaire in the first place.

"Took you long enough," I grumbled, watching as the three wizards approached.

"Sorry. Mrs. Dreadful kept hugging us and thanking us for bringing him home," Ashley replied ruefully, shrugging. A fraction of a smile appeared on my face.

"Hurry up. We have to search both counterweights and Big Ben, and if we can't find the key, we'll meet back here. Sabrina, you, Chelsea and Blackbird will come with me. Erica, Evan and Heather will be a group, and Ashley, you'll go with Brooke and Destiny. Each of you go up a counterweight; they're easier, and three people can beat them easily. I'll go up Big Ben."

"Alexandra, are you NUTS? You're taking a mediocre Theurgist, an insane ANIMAL, and an ADEPT up BIG BEN? That's the hardest dungeon in Marleybone, and you might be up against Malistaire himself," Erica yelled. Sabrina crossed her arms and glared at the "mediocre Theurgist" comment.

"I must be, but those are the three that need the most protection against Malistaire. You may be book-smart, Erica, but when it comes to a real battle, you're just not as good. We both know I'm the best duelist here, especially under high pressure. I can keep them safe."

"Then I'm going with you," Brooke said determinedly. She folded her arms and stared at me defiantly, daring me to oppose. "I want a chance at Moira just as badly as you do. Send Chelsea with Ashley and Destiny, or better yet, send her with Erica and Evan, and have Heather join Destiny and Ashley. You won't convince me to go with them, so don't even try." Her eyes beheld a fire I'd seen before: in my own eyes. Slowly, I nodded.

"Fine. Chelsea, go with Erica and Evan up counterweight east. Ashley, Destiny, Heather, go up counterweight west. Come back here and meet at the entrance to Big Ben once you're done. Be ready to run, though. We might have Malistaire, Moira, and an entire army of O'Leary's on our tail. Brooke, Sabrina, get Blackbird and come with me. We've got to get started; Big Ben is twice the height of the counterweights." I pulled the brim of my black hat lower over my face, tightened my grip on my cutlass hilt, and started towards Big Ben's entrance. I heard the soft flap of Blackbird's feet as she padded along behind me, but aside from that, the dim museum was silent.

Brooke was the first one to Big Ben's door.

"Ready," I told her. Sabrina nodded in agreement, and Blackbird just whined. The Diviner nodded and pushed open the door. We began the long climb to the top.

As we walked, I decided to get some information.

"So, Sabrina, do you know anything else about Blackbird?" Her frown deepened.

"I've told you, I don't know anything! Well, not much, anyways! I know that she was once a human, and Moira has a pendant of her's that will turn her back. Other than that…"

"What about her as a human? Did Moira taunt you with anything, let anything slip when she was talking to Blackbird?"

"Moira never spoke directly to her," Sabrina muttered. "She treated Blackbird like she was a stupid animal."

"Hm." It seemed like Sabrina was almost… protective of Blackbird, like they were friends. Could it be possible that the conditions were changing Sabrina, too? I mused over that question, along with my others, as we climbed the steep staircase.

We ran into our first trouble around floor four. A huge black cat that seemed more muscle than flesh was staring at us, rubbing a coin that hung on a chain around his neck. Beside him were two clockwork golems.

"Sabrina, have Blackbird attack the golems. I've got the cat," I murmured in the Theurgist's ear. She nodded discreetly and went to whisper instructions to Blackbird. My feral partner tensed as Sabrina began to speak, and as she moved away, Blackbird let out a freakish howl and dropped to all fours. Under other circumstances I would have observed her fighting tactics, having never seen much non-magic fighting, but I had an O'Leary to fight. I turned my attention back to the cat.

"So, you're the wizard the boys have been talkin' about," he said, his bad-boy accent different from the polite Marleybonians'. I glared.

"Yeah? And what does it matter to you?"

"Well, they said ya were little, but they didn't mention how pretty ya are." Was a CAT trying to FLIRT with me?

"Nice try, but I think not, feline," I snapped, pulling my cutlass out of its sheath with a metallic hiss. He smirked and dropped the coin.

"Well, this'll be easy. A nice workout, ya could call it." He grinned wider. "Night-night, wizard." The cat lunged forwards, but he hadn't counted on my agility. I skipped sideways, neatly avoiding him.

"Oh, really? A nice workout? Yes, I'm sure it will be. For me," I laughed brutally, clipping his tail tip off. He hissed in pain and turned to face me again, his eyes bugging with rage. Once more he lunged, this time with his arms spread out. I wouldn't be able to go left or right, so I jumped as high as I could, spun in the air, and landed on all fours. I rapidly stood and, with one clean swipe, cut off the cat's head.

"It's sad, really. He thought he could beat me." I wiped the blade of my sword on his vest and tucked it back into the sheath. I heard a squawk and a clang, and I turned. Blackbird was circling around the two golems, whose heads were rotating on their necks as they tried to watch her. She lunged again, this time locking her wide hands around one of the golems' necks. The creature howled once more and tore off its head, throwing it down the stairs. Before the first golem had even fallen to the ground, she'd ripped her talon-like hands into the stomach of the second. It looked down stupidly, beeped once, and dropped.

"Blackbird! Come," Sabrina called. Blackbird squeaked again, licked her hand, and slunk back to Sabrina's side.

"Well. That was easy," I commented. Sabrina glared at me.

"Couldn't you have done it a bit less… gruesomely?" I shrugged.

"You wanted him to keep attacking us?" She was silent. "I thought not. When I'm fighting with a weapon I'm not excellent with, I play it safe. You can't get much safer than having a dead enemy." It seemed like simple logic to me. If you have an enemy, kill them, and then they can't attack you. Easy enough.

"Just… come on. We've got to keep going."

We encountered six more O'Leary's, twenty more golems of various types, and a possessed dog, all of whom we dispatched easily. We finally reached our target floor after another twenty minutes of climbing. In front of us stood three people: Malistaire, Moira, and a scraggly, well dressed cat I recognized from old wanted posters: Meowiarty, the devious thief and dangerous murderer.

"So, we meet at last, Alexandra Firesong." For looking like a wet rat, Meowiarty certainly had a smooth voice. My eyes narrowed, and I ignored him.

"Are you ready to die, Moira?" She glared at the ground, not meeting my eyes.

"What, are you too scared to look me in the eye, COWARD," Brooke taunted, fearlessly brushing her bangs away from her eye, revealing the bright red burn. She'd hated the deformity and constantly tried to hide it, but apparently the thought that it could scare Moira was more appealing than the thought of hiding it. The Necromancer's head shot up, fixing the four of us with a piercing glare. There was a bruise around one of her eyes, and a still-bleeding gash ran from her opposite cheek.

"Happy now, Diviner? Now you see. We match now." The comment was dry, poorly timed, and yet somehow, it made me stop and think. I hadn't given her that bruise or the cut. It couldn't have been any of my friends. Was it… Malistaire? No, it couldn't be. He wouldn't hurt his servant, his slave. When she snarled at us, I noticed that one of her teeth was missing.

"It looks like WE match, too, Moira, "I replied darkly, throwing my broken tooth at her feet. Her eyes widened in anger.

"WE DON'T MATCH! WE'RE NOTHING ALIKE! NOTHING, DO YOU HEAR ME? NOTHING AT ALL!" I was surprised by the sheer volume of her shriek. Malistaire shot an angry look at her, and she bit her lip, yet her eyes retained a wild and defiant look.

"Well, Alex. It looks like you've found my… pet. Or rather, Moira's pet."

"What do YOU want," I snapped at my former father.

"I want you to come with me, Alex." His tone softened for a minute. "Just think of it. We could rule the Spiral, both of us. You and me and Sylvia, just like old times." A horrible possibility dawned on me, but I hid it.

"Sylvia's dead," I replied cautiously.

"Not for much longer. Once I raise the Dragon Titan, I will command him to bring Sylvia back to me. Back to us. Don't you miss those times when we were family?" He seemed so innocent, so despairing, that for a second, I considered it. But then I saw his eyes. Cold, dark, black, empty puddles of anger and deceit and evil deeds. He wanted Sylvia back, true, and he was willing to do anything to get her back. _Anything. _That included destroying my first home once again. That included killing one of my best friends, the most innocent, undeserving Pyromancer in the entire Spiral.

"You heartless fool. Those times are dead! Sylvia is DEAD! You can't bring her back! No one can raise the dead! You have to stop this! You've already killed one of my friends and countless other wizards; how much farther do you want this to go? Will you just keep killing and burning and kidnapping and torturing until you've destroyed the whole Spiral?" His gaze turned to rage.

"You have gone too far, daughter."

"I'm not your daughter, either. I am Alexandra Firesong, daughter of Alyssa Firesong. That's it. I have no father, I have no siblings, I have no family alive in this universe. You took whatever family I had left. You stole my second father. Now, either fight me or flee like a coward. Like the coward you are." I knew that I had just gone one step too far.

_**A/N:**__ I'd appreciate a review, you know…_


	41. Chapter 41: Questioning Meowiarty

_**A/N: **__o.0 Geez, I haven't updated this since January! Firestorm sorry. :( By the way, you should read the new chapter six. I put it up not that long ago, and it has an important plot device in it. Cookies and hot chocolate if you can guess what it is. (It shouldn't be too hard…)_

_In response to my reviews:_

_Sportzdawg: Yes. Yes she is. :)_

_Cuttingmoon57: Thanks! I'll work on fixing those errors …_

_Scarletfireblaze: Thanks. :)_

_QuayJaquelinXeomaraZendaya: You'll have to read and find out . . .*Evil grin* And yes, she had to say those things because they're a plot device. *Grins evilly some more*_

_SuperYuuki: I'll fix that . . . and I'll work on using your ideas . . ._

In my nine years living with Malistaire, I had seen him angry. Rude students, incomplete assignments, me misbehaving, and problems around the house, they were all causes for him to get mad. Never, in nine years, had I seen him furious, in a blood rage. It was pretty scary. That was an understatement, by the way.

He raised his staff, and for a minute, I thought he was going to incinerate me on the spot. Surprisingly, though, and with an enormous amount of effort, he lowered the staff, and he nodded stiffly to Meowiarty.

"You know what to do. Finish her. Moira, come." With a wave of his hand, a dark portal appeared in front of him.

"I'm not a pet," she spat defiantly, but she followed him into the portal. I turned back to Meowiarty.

"Well? If we're gonna fight, let's get on with it! We don't have all day," I snapped. He snapped his fingers, and two wraiths appeared beside him, alongside a small wooden puppet.

"Agreed, Alexandra. Do come forward; this chatter is getting a bit boring."

"How will Blackbird fight?" I whispered to Sabrina.

"She can attack like normal, just taking turns. I think that her attacks would be considered Death," the Theurgist replied. I nodded, motioning Brooke forward. She unsheathed her sword and started towards Meowiarty, a murderous look in her eyes. I figured that I looked about the same as I ran ahead of her with my cutlass. Sabrina, after whispering to Blackbird, took the third space, and Blackbird slunk after her into the fourth. I drew my seven cards and inspected them. A death blade, Infection, Sacrifice, Poison, Wraith, Curse and Ice Wyvern.

"Sabrina, Brooke, attack the Wraiths. Tell Blackbird to attack the golem, and I'll attack Meowiarty. Brooke, once you've killed your Wraith, help me out; he's Myth," I whispered to them. The Theurgist and Diviner nodded in agreement. I played the death blade on myself and waited.

It didn't take as long as one would think; Meowiarty was barely a rank six, an adept level boss. After a Storm Lord cast by Brooke, he collapsed, panting on the floor. The wraiths disintegrated, and the puppet fell apart.

"Enough! Enough! You, Alexandra, have more skill than your father let on." I glared.

"Shut up. Don't talk to me. And he's NOT my father."

"All right, if you insist. I happen to know where Malistaire went, AND how to get there, but, since you don't want me to talk . . . " I thrust the point of my sword under his chin.

"What do you know, cat?"

"That you're going to stop prodding me, first of all." He stood, brushed the dust off his jacket, and straightened his tie. "That's better. You want to know where Malistaire went. I happen to know that. The question is, what do you have to trade?"

"Your freedom." Brooke and Sabrina stared at me in shock.

"Alexandra . . . he's a wanted criminal! We have him right here! Why not turn him in?"

"Shut it. Which is more important: the valuables of a few Marleybonians, or the fate of the entire Spiral?" I took their silence as an answer.

"That's a smart girl. Intelligent and powerful. A wonderful combination. Now, if only you had the looks to go with it …" I raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me? Your cat downstairs seemed to think I was pretty enough." He waved a paw nonchalantly.

"Common, simple minded peasants, that's all those O'Leary's are. They know little."

"Just-THIS IS GETTING OFF TOPIC! Do you accept or not?" As he weighed his options, I glared hard at him. "I happen to like how I look, thanks."

"Well, I believe that this deal is decent enough on my end. You will let me go free, and I will reveal Malistaire's location, am I correct?"

"AND how to get there," I added, not moving my sword.

"And how to get there. That is a fair trade, I suppose. All right. Malistaire and his little henchgirl fled to the Crown of Fire in Dragonspyre. You'll no doubt know your way around from your time there, but the Spiral Key is missing, I've heard." He smirked. I glared harder and made a move as if to poke him with my sword. The cat dodged it nimbly, and then continued. "Not to worry, Alexandra, I know where the Key is, as well. It is in Mooshu."

"And the Mooshu Key?"

"Now, that wasn't a part of our bargain, was it?" He smiled, dodged my sword point once again, and fled for the rooftops.

"This isn't over, cat! I'll find you eventually!" I shouted after him, angrily sheathing my sword.

"Alex, why don't we go after him?" Sabrina suggested. "He _did_ trick you, after all." I shook my head.

"I promised that he would go free. Unfortunately for Meowiarty, I never said how long he would be free. Trust me, as soon as we stop Malistaire, we'll come back here and catch him." A faint smirk appeared on Brooke's face.

"You're even trickier than he is. Alexandra." I shrugged.

"I guess he'll be easy to catch, then. Let's go; we've wasted enough time. If the Counterweights didn't have any major enemies, the others should be back already." The four of us departed for the elevator down.

Sure enough, the other two groups were waiting for us at the entrance to Big Ben.

"Took you long enough. What was up there, a Titan?" Erica asked irritably. I glared.

"Try Moira, Malistaire and Meowiarty." The same thought ran through everyone's mind: _Donna would have laughed and said, "The Three 'M's!" _

"Stop fighting, guys. We have to find the Mooshu Spiral Key; it wasn't in Big Ben, although I think Meowiarty knew where it was."

"Counterweight West," Destiny immediately said, holding out a flat, circular object. I took it. The circle was painted green, and there was a gray cow's head drawn in the middle.

"We found it locked in a chest," Ashley supplied.

"Good. One less thing we have to do here. Now, we've gotta go. I have a feeling that Malistaire didn't leave Mooshu alone." Sabrina went white as a sheet.

"Let's go," she squeaked, seemingly having trouble speaking. She called Stella, her white mare, and pulled herself onto the horse's back. Without even glancing at us, she slapped the reins gently against Stella's shoulders and galloped out of the museum. I glanced at Destiny, shrugged, and ran after her.

_**A/N:**__ Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was short and crappy. I have no Muse and I wrote this in 20 minutes. I will work harder next chapter; I feel like being lazy today. :P_


	42. Chapter 42: Arguments in Mooshu

_**A/N:**__ YAAAAYY, MY MUSE IS BACK! :D xD I threw her a welcome home party. :) Here is chapter 43!_

_**In response to my reviews:**_

_Scarletfireblaze: :) I can promise that this chapter will be longer; the last one was written with no Muse and almost no inspiration o.0 And I pity you about Krokotopia; that place hates me. O.o Trust me, Marleybone is just as bad, but it comes in a prettier package. xD_

_**Disclaimer:**__ *Hums the tune to It's A Small World" NOOOO! I SHALL NEVER SURRENDER! IS THIS PUNISHMENT FOR TRYING TO TAKE OVER WIZARD101? I THOUGHT I ADMITTED DEFEAT! Hmm… that reminds me! I've started a Small World horror fic… but that's just off topic, and so I shall return to my writing. xD_

_In this chapter: Mooshu, Bat's return, and the appearance of a certain Conjurer that we haven't seen in a while…_

As we walked through the Spiral Door to Mooshu, I was nearly sick to my stomach.

"Bright colors… bright sunshine… not good…" I muttered, pressing a hand to my stomach. A faint chuckle escaped Ashley's lips, but the others were silent, just staring at me blankly. I staggered past a few bewildered looking cows dressed in green kimonos, and then I crashed into the wall, falling flat on my face. That earned a few laughs from the others, and the cows held fans up to their faces, trying to stifle their laughs. I glared at them all, although I was secretly pleased that I had gotten them to laugh. I hoped Donna was amused …

"Stop fooling around. We've got to find someone that can tell us what's going on here," Sabrina snapped, brushing past me with Stella's reins in her hand. She stalked towards a goat dressed in a saffron colored robe.

"Moodhist monk," Erica murmured in my ear. I nodded.

"I know my history, Erica."

"It's not technically history, since it currently exists and is still widely practiced in Mooshu, but Moodhism has been around for hundreds of years, and is starting to spread to other-"

"All right, I get it. You don't need to turn into a dictionary on me; I've got better things to do than listen to history lectures!" I knew I'd been harsh. Erica's frown deepened, and her eyes drooped sadly.

"I'd be an encyclopedia, not a dictionary," she whispered as she walked past me. I ran after her.

THUD.

I spun around and whipped out my cutlass, all in one rapid movement, ready to chop the head off my assailant. However, I paused when I saw who it was: a big black dragon with a shredded wing tip.

"Bat?"

"Attack," she said gloomily. I rolled my eyes. A small figure that I hadn't noticed slid off her back.

"Well, well. Tristan Legendsword. It's been a while."

"Yep. I heard you were in Mooshu, so I decided to drop by for a visit." He grinned lopsidedly.

"I see you haven't managed to heal my dragon yet," I commented.

"I don't have the right equipment in Wizard City, and the Dragonspyre Spiral Key is gone. How did you expect me to heal her?"

"Oh, I dunno, MAGIC? You're a WIZARD."

"So are you, and yet your magic still wasn't enough, was it?"

"RARRGH! You just landed here five seconds ago, and I've already had enough of you! Why are you here, really?" He stared at me, taken slightly aback by my outburst.

"What's up? You seem pretty tense about something, at least … more tense than normal."

"Hmm, LET ME THINK. Maybe the fact that I'm trying to hunt down an evil maniac and his homicidal sidekick. It could be the fact that this place is so bright and pretty that it hurts my HEAD. Or, you know, MAYBE it could be the fact that ONE OF MY BEST FRIENDS WAS STRANGLED TO DEATH, AND HER DEAD BODY WAS DUMPED TWO FEET IN FRONT OF MY FACE! MAYBE IT'S THE MEMORY OF WHAT BROOKE LOOKED LIKE WHEN SHE SAW DONNA'S BODY! MAYBE IT'S THE MEMORY OF HER CRYING LIKE HER HEART HAD BEEN TORN IN TWO! MAYBE I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS CRAP WITH MALISTAIRE, AND MAYBE I JUST WANT OUT!" The look on his face was one of such shock that I thought he'd seen a ghost. I took a deep breath, not trusting myself to speak again. I'd probably just start crying.

"Oh… I'm so sorry… I didn't know…"

"Of course you didn't know, you weren't there to see it," I growled, pinching myself to regain control over my emotions. "You never answered my question: why. Are. You. Here? Want to get killed, too?"

"No, I've come for two reasons: one, I had to bring back your dragon. Physically, she's just fine, and she can obey your commands. I've trained her to no longer fear death things, so you'll be okay to ride her. I will have to get my parents or another Dragon Mage to help her with the speech problem."

"Great. And the second reason?"

"I want to help you fight Malis-"

"No." My response was immediate, final, and flat. "You are not coming to Dragonspyre, Tristan Legendsword."

"Why not? I know my way around Dragonspyre, and I have connections in places that will get you to usually-restricted areas."

"We're not going anywhere restricted. We're going straight to the Crown of Fire, killing anyone on Malistaire's side, probably killing Malistaire, and leaving. We don't need your help to find our way there. I used to LIVE in Dragonspyre."

"How long ago?" He challenged.

"Nine years. I still know how to get around, though," I continued, seeing him about to protest. "All we have to do is go up until we can't go up any farther."

"Do you have any idea how long that will take you, just flying around until you find the stairs? I know EXACTLY where they are! I just left Dragonspyre a few weeks ago! I can even help you fight, if you need extra help!"

"You're an APPRENTICE! Apprentices are no help anywhere but Triton Avenue! Go fight some rotting fodders, Tristan. You can't help us." I turned to go, but he yelled after me.

"I'm not an apprentice anymore!" I glanced at him.

"Excuse me?"

"I SAID, I am not an apprentice anymore. Do you know how hard I've been working since you left?" I started to reply, but he cut me off. "That was a rhetorical question! I've worked so hard, I'm almost a magus! I can help you enough!"

"And can I promise that you will survive every battle? No! We're up against enemies so hard, _**I**_ have trouble against them! I can't promise that you won't suffer the same fate as Donna! If Moira wasn't afraid to kill HER, she won't even bat an eyelash at the thought of killing you! You're nothing to her, and there isn't an enemy in Dragonspyre that will hesitate to kill you! Not one! They have no mercy, Tristan! I don't want to have to tell your parents what happened to you. It will be hard enough to tell Donna's; I can't tell yours, too. I can't do it." I sank to my knees, clutching my head in my hands. "I. Can't. Do it. Don't try and make me; just go, Tristan! Get out of here, before she comes for you, too!" His eyes hardened.

"No! I'm not going anywhere, and I'd like to see you try and make me!"

"DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND THAT **MOIRA WILL KILL YOU?** She doesn't care! I don't think she has a heart at all! Tristan, I can't face the fact that, when this is all over, I have to go back to Wizard City, go to Firecat Alley, and tell Mrs. Dragonflame that her daughter, her beloved only child, is DEAD ON THE GROUND! We had to leave her there! I won't do it twice! Just GET OUT OF HERE, OR YOU WILL DIE! WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE ALREADY, SO WHY DO YOU WANT TO HELP US?" He glared at me.

"Because you have to win. You have to save my home, my family, and I'm not gonna stand and watch Malistaire destroy Dragonspyre all over again! Now get up, get on your dragon, and go save the Spiral! I WILL help you, whether you like it or not! If I have to knock you unconscious and drag you up the mountain to the Crown of Fire, I am GOING to help you, so deal with it!"

"It's what Donna would want." I gasped. The whisper had come from behind me, a sound so low that I could barely hear it. I turned slowly. Heather stood nearby, one hand gripping her staff, the other one clenched in a fist. "She'd want us to do everything we can to stop Moira and Malistaire, Alexandra. We're not going to die." I stared at the Conjurer, shocked to silence by her few words.

"Donna … would want his help?" She shrugged.

"We've got a lead. Sabrina says that we have to go to the Crimson Fields."

"Well, then." I stood, brushed off my robe, and nodded to Tristan. "Welcome to the club. Apparently we're not dying, so get on your mount and let's go. We are going to Hametsu Village, home to the Crimson Fields."

_**A/N:**__ I suppose it's longer … mostly just ranting on both sides of the argument, but hopefully I depressed you enough for the day :) There are a few more dark chapters coming up, and then things might lighten up before the group gets to Dragonspyre. I swear on my blue pencil that I will try to make things lighter. Please note the word "Try." No guarantees. ;)_


	43. Chapter 43: The Crimson Fields

_**A/N:**__ W00T W00T! My Muse is home! I have my inspiration back! That only took … a month… ;D _

_I have some more news: I've started working on the sequel! I might start putting previews at the end of chapters soon. Mooshu will be cut short, since it's not really relevant to the chase. They might fight the four Oni, but that's about it.  
><em>

_**Disclaimer:**__ *Drinks peach iced tea* *Gets a sugar rush* WOOHOOO! XD *Is too busy flying in circles and being hyper to own Wizard101*_

_**In response to reviews:**_

_Scarletfireblaze: :) Mooshu's okay. Dragonspyre is CRAZY AWESOME, though xD I can't wait to write about that world; I have so many epic things planned xD_

_SportzDawg: Haha, that's hysterical! xD_

I pulled the brim of my hat low over my face and covered my nose as I flew along the path to Hametsu Village. The sweet smells of lotus blossoms and fresh grass were sickening, and the sun was blindingly bright. Heather and Destiny seemed to love the place, but I could barely look at it without gagging.

"Bat, this place sucks," I complained.

"Attack."

"It's so BRIGHT!"

"Attack."

"Ugh, those flowers smell disgusting!"

"Attack."

"I think I'm gonna be sick again, please excuse me."

"Attack."

My dragon and I went on like that for a while. A few of the others gave me strange looks, but none of them said anything. Surprisingly, that included Sabrina.

"So, Sabrina, why were you so worried about Mooshu? It seems pretty peaceful to me," Erica said. The Theurgist shot her an angry look.

"It's none of your business."

"All right, if you say so." The Thaumaturge held up her hands in mock surrender. I nearly smiled. Maybe this world wasn't so bad after all; it seemed to be lightening everyone's spirits.

And then, we got to the Crimson Fields.

They were dark, first off. That much I was happy with. It smelled of decay, and blood was spattered everywhere. Dead bodies littered the ground. Some had clearly been impaled by weaponry, but others bore no marks, no wounds, nothing. They had to have been killed by magic. The worst part was easily the sound of the place: nothing. Dead, dead silence, a quiet so thick that the hooves of my friends' mounts and the flap of Bat's wings seemed to echo throughout the entire valley. I slid down from Bat's back and gently touched the forehead of a sheep. Its head was ice cold.

"They've been dead a long time," I called, ignoring the looks of disgust and horror from my friends. "Malistaire must have been here a while ago."

"How do you know it was Malistaire?" Sabrina challenged.

"Look at it!" I yelled, sweeping my arm over the desolation. "This is exactly the kind of thing Malistaire would do! There are no wounds on some of these soldiers, Sabrina, and it's only the sheep, goats and cows! None of the pigs are woundless! None of these humans are woundless!" She went white as a sheet.

"Humans? There are _humans _here?" Startled, I realized what I'd said, and immediately rushed over to the nearest human corpse. I closely studied his armor, his weapon, and the markings on his armbands.

"Dragonspyrians. He's been … he's been recruiting Dragonspyrians for his army," I said slowly, my voice no louder than a whisper. It echoed all the same. Tristan stared in absolute horror at the carnage.

"He's using people from home … my home … "He glanced at the face of a nearby human, and then gasped."I-I know this man! He's my uncle!" His face was unbearable to look at, being so contorted with rage and sorrow. I could practically feel waves of pain rolling off him, a bitter, harsh pain that I was very familiar with. "Malistaire killed Uncle Petrov. He killed him … he's dead …"

"Then I believe we have another reason to take him down," Brooke snapped.

"Now do you see why I didn't want you to come?" I asked. "We've seen this before, Tristan, and we'll likely see worse before Malistaire is defeated. You can still walk away from this. You can still go back to Ravenwood; you'll be safe there."

"NO!" His outburst startled me, and I took a step back. "Malistaire caused my uncle to die, and I'm not gonna sit in Ravenwood and twiddle my thumbs while I wait for you to stop this whole thing! Do you even know what it feels like, seeing someone you love dead and knowing that their killer is still alive?" My eyes narrowed, and I tightened my grip on my wand.

"You do not know the true meaning of suffering. I've lost everyone I've ever cared about, everything I've known and loved! When the meteor shower hit Dragonspyre ten years ago, my mom died, my father abandoned me, and I lost my home! When I was adopted by Sylvia and Malistaire, what happened? Sylvia died, and Malistaire became a monster! My school is gone, everything's ruined! You know NOTHING!" Erica grabbed my shoulder firmly.

"Alexandra, stop. He didn't know. This is a waste of time; do you want to stand here and have a full-blown argument with Tristan, or do you want to find the Dragonspyre Spiral Key so we can kill Malistaire?" My silence was enough to answer her question, and she turned to Tristan. "Tristan, you and Alex have both suffered from this. I promise that we will make Malistaire pay for what he's done, but you have to stop acting like a child. Either you grow up _**right now,**_ or you're out, and we will NOT let you follow us, even if it means knocking you unconscious and sending you back to Ravenwood in a box. Am I clear?" Slowly, Tristan nodded, but the angry glint didn't leave his eyes.

"Hey! Over here!" The shout came from a good distance away, where Brooke, Heather and Destiny were inspecting a wall. I sprinted towards them.

"What is it?" I asked breathlessly.

"We've got a clue. Look at this stone," Destiny told me. I knelt and inspected the brick she'd pointed out. It was wedged into the wall at an odd angle, like it had been removed and put back in badly.

"So? It's a brick."

"Look at the top of it." There was a hastily sketched image of a black moon, and below it was an arrow pointing north.

"Moira?"

"We think so," Heather replied softly.

"Well, it's very nice of her to leave her mark everywhere," I started sarcastically, "but what's the point?"

"That." My eyes followed Brooke's finger, which was pointing to a desecrated old building. The door was swinging slightly, making an eerie, ominous squeaking sound.

"I'm going in. Wait here."

"I'm coming, too," Destiny insisted, drawing her wand. I was about to protest, but then I reconsidered and nodded. It would be much easier with two, especially if those two were from opposite schools.

"Brooke, Heather, go wait with the others. No arguing," I warned, seeing the look in the Diviner's eyes. Sulkily, she turned and stomped back towards the rest of the group. Heather hurried after her.


	44. Chapter 44: What the HECK is going on?

_**A/N: **__The O.C. spots are officially filled! _

The small room was silent except for the creaking of the door. I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest. Usually, I wasn't scared easily, but I was sure that if something jumped out at me, I would scream. Destiny grabbed my free hand with her's, and I squeezed it tightly, gripping my wand hard.

"Hello?" The Theurgist whispered. A low groan sounded from the corner of the room. I jumped nearly five feet in the air, and Destiny clapped a hand over her mouth.

"I'll go see what it is," I hissed in her ear, pocketing my wand and drawing my cutlass. Slowly, I inched forwards, staying as low to the ground as I could and keeping my sword level with my face. The groan came again, this time louder. "Who's there?" I called, taking another step forwards.

"Over here," a deep, masculine voice rasped. I turned to my right. On the ground, with blood leaking from his side, was a massive pig dressed all in black. Off to the side of him were a tall wooden staff and a hat.

"Destiny, come here." I cautiously approached the pig. His dull black eyes were glazing over as he grasped my wrist.

"Beware the Necromancer, girl. He brings death with him everywhere. He allows great demons to be free. Stop him! Please, I beg of you, stop him before he destroys my homeland!" His voice became increasingly urgent.

"Try and heal him. He's got hope left; I can't feel death nearby yet," I told my friend as she knelt beside me.

"No. Do not waste your spells on me; they will only strengthen the demon's power! Kill me, kill me, before he awakens and overtakes me once again!" The pig was begging now.

"Who are you?" I whispered.

"I am Warlord Katsumori, once a great leader of this world. Now, I play host to the demon of war! Kill me, and him with me!" I looked away as I drove my sword point into the warlord's heart. He sighed as the life completely left his body.

"Warlord Katsumori … I remember him," Destiny realized. "I saw him in a parade once, when I was a young child. He wore red and gold armor then, and his spear was bright in the sun. I had to look away from him."

"I wish we could have saved him … "I murmured, touching his forehead. It had already gone cold.

"He spoke of demons, Alexandra. Demons … oh, no …"

"What is it?"

"Malistaire has released the four Oni onto Mooshu! We've got to stop them before they destroy everything!" Together, we raced towards the exit, pausing only when we heard an ear-splitting roar from behind us. Slowly, I turned. "The War Oni, the weakest of the four …" Destiny gasped. "War, Plague, Oni No-Death and Jade! They're here, in Mooshu!"

"Well, come on, then! We kill this one and we've got three to go!"

"Wait, Alex. He's fire. We need to get Ashley and Erica."

"There's no time! Do you want the four Oni dead or not?" Destiny hesitated for another minute, and then she ran past me-right out the door.

"Start without me! I'll be back in a second!" She called over her shoulder.

"Right …" I turned back towards the War Oni. "Bring it, Nose Face! Give me your very best!" The enormous elephant growled, raising its massive scimitar. I almost gulped, VERY glad I wasn't dueling him in a physical swordfight. That thing made my cutlass look like a toothpick!

"Come to your doom, little wizard!" Its booming voice practically shook the building. I stepped into the dueling circle and pulled my deck of cards out of my pocket.

"Crap," I moaned, seeing my hand. Of the seven cards, four were dream shields or glacial shields, and the other three were infections. I discarded all seven cards and passed, folded my arms, and waited for the Oni to take his turn.

He cast a magma colossus. "A freaking. Magma. Colossus. Are you SERIOUS?" I yelled, watching the -45% shield appear in front of him. "Destiny, hurry up!" There was no reply from outside. As the pointer returned to me, I drew seven more cards. Two death blades, a death trap, a curse, two sacrifices … and a skeletal dragon! "Finally!" I played the death blade, death trap and curse over the next three rounds, waiting for eight pips. I grinned as I drew the Death symbol with my sword, jabbing it extra hard. The pile of bones landed in the center of the arena, and an unseen force drew them together to form a dragon. It sprang into the air as purple electricity formed the webbing between the wings, and it breathed more of the lightening at the War Oni. A death damage-over-time square began to circle around the Oni's feet. I grinned as I observed the large chunk of health that disappeared from its circle. Nearly half was gone from the first attack, and that one was the weakest.

Just as I'd thought; the Oni was dead on the ground only a round later. All he'd done was fire-trap me. I poked him once with my sword, and then I proudly strutted out of the building, smirking. It had been an easy victory, almost too easy. There had to be something going on … it was almost like he was willing to die.

"Hey, Alex! Come here!" Destiny called.

"You ditched me in there! What was up with that? I mean, I beat him and everything, but still …" my voice faded as I observed who stood before me: a bloodied, bedraggled, very angry looking Moira Moonchaser. Before anyone could stop me, I had my sword under her throat, ready to chop off her head. "You have approximately thirty seconds to convince me not to kill you, Moonchaser," I hissed. She didn't say a single word, just held out her hand. Something was dangling from it: a thin chain, from which hung a black stone spiral. Sabrina took a few steps forwards, staring intently at the chain.

"Oh, my gosh … is that …" Moira nodded, dropping the chain into Sabrina's hand.

"What is it?" Sabrina turned towards me.

"This is the necklace that belongs to Blackbird. It will turn her back into a full human, as opposed to the thing she is now. Watch this:" She turned back to Blackbird and fastened the chain around the creature's neck. Blackbird's eyes flew open wide, and she gasped. A strange expression passed over her face, and slowly, she began to change. Her eyes went from deranged and violet to a light hazel color. Her long hair became light brown. Her posture and shape became more human. Everyone stared, even Moira.

"Whoa …" Sabrina smiled triumphantly.

"You're back to normal," she said to Blackbird-or whoever she was now. The new Blackbird stared at the Theurgist with wide eyes.

"Sss-Sabrina…?" She whispered. Her voice was raspy, like she hadn't spoken in years. It was possible, knowing Moira. I turned back to the other Necromancer, whose eyes were still fixed on Blackbird.

"Why did you do it?" I asked her. "Why are you doing this, helping us?" She glanced my way.

"I hate him." It was obvious enough who she was speaking of. "I hate him. I won't work for someone who has no respect for my power, and the best way for me to hurt him is to help bring him down. He's dead." Her voice was as cold and brittle as ice, as hard as stone. I could see the unmasked, unbridled fury in her eyes, and saw her hands clench as she spoke of Malistaire.

"We can't trust you. You killed Donna; there's no way we will just let you come along with us." I nodded towards Brooke, who was glaring at Moira vehemently. "She's not gonna let you come. You'll have either my sword or her's in your back before you take three steps. Everyone here wants your head on a stake, Moira Moonchaser." I spat her name like it tasted bad.

"Especially me." I glanced towards the speaker. Blackbird was standing less than a foot away from me, baring her sharp teeth at Moira. "You treated me like an animal, Moira, and for that, there is no forgiveness."

"Well, Blackbird-"

"My name is Kestrel!" She screamed the name, and then again. "KESTREL! MY NAME IS KESTREL! THERE IS NO BLACKBIRD! THERE WAS NEVER ANY BLACKBIRD! JUST KESTREL!"

"Fine! How about you tell them who REALLY killed Donna Dragonflame, huh, KESTREL?" The place went dead silent. Brooke's eyes flew open wide. Heather gasped. Every pair of eyes was on Kestrel. She frowned. Slowly, a tear slid down her cheek.

"It-it was me. I killed her," she whispered. Moira turned back to me, a triumphant gleam in her eyes.

"You see? I never meant to kill your friend! THAT was an unfortunate accident."

"ACCIDENT?" Brooke roared. "MY BEST FRIEND IS DEAD, AND YOU CALL IT AN UNFORTUNATE _**ACCIDENT**_?"

"I called it an accident because that's what it was! An accident! Black- Kestrel was insane, she somehow got loose, and she strangled your friend!"

"Shut up!" I yelled, pressing the edge of my sword back into Moira's neck. "We are not holding it against Kestrel, because who was it that MADE Kestrel go insane? Who was it that most likely let her loose to kill Donna? YOU!"

"I had nothing to do with her death!"

"You drove Kestrel insane!"

"Under Malistaire's orders, because he threatened to kill-" she stopped.

"Who? Who could POSSIBLY be worth the life of the most innocent Pyromancer in this entire Spiral?" I challenged.

"None of your business," she said shortly. "It's none of your business."

"Fine." I sheathed my sword and crossed my arms. "Go back to your partner; you're not coming with us."

"Oh, so you'll let a pair of MAGUSES come with you, but not a Legendary Necromancer, someone who was on Malistaire's side since the whole business started? You have no idea how much I know. I can lead you straight to him, straight to his dungeon." I shook my head. "I can lead you to someone you know very well." I froze.

"Everyone she knows is dead!" Evan snarled. Slowly, I shook my head.

"No. Not everyone is." I chose my words carefully before continuing. "You will _swear_ that you won't turn against us, on pain of death. You will lead us to Malistaire's lair, and you'll help us kill him." She nodded.

"I won't harm anyone in your group. I'm on your side now." She stuck out her hand. "Deal?" I glared as I shook her hand.

"Deal. Don't think this makes us friends, Moonchaser. We are by no means _friends._ I still hate you enough to tear your head off, but we're allies for now."

"Likewise," she replied with a half grin. I nodded.

"Let's go find the rest of those Oni."

_**A/N:**__ I feel like I rushed part of that chapter … : / Ah, well! I've got an extremely epic scene planned for the end of Mooshu, so I suppose that any crappy/short/rushed chapters between here and then will be justified. xD _


	45. Chapter 45: The Cave of Solitude

_**A/N: **I have finished revising and re-publishing up to chapter nine. Very soon, there will be a major plot change that you will want to read, as it will affect the Dragonspyre chapter of this story. Also, I won't be publishing chapter 47 until probably September, unless I get a free moment during the summer. Not likely. _

Our first task as a group was to find out where the next Oni was, and who we'd be facing. The High Monk told us that there were problems with the water in Shoshun Village, and Destiny immediately identified the work of the Plague Oni. Sabrina proved surprisingly helpful in plotting the route there; she traced a shortcut through the Cave of Solitude that would allow us to avoid the sickness-ravaged Kishibe Village altogether.

"Evan, take Ashley, Chelsea and Tristan back to the Jade Palace and look around for clues. Try and find at least one more Oni before we get back. Let Chelsea lead once you're there; she lives in Mooshu, and she should know her way around. We'll meet you in the garden by Yoshihito Temple." He nodded and immediately departed. "Destiny, what school is the Plague Oni?"

"Balance," she replied instantly. I nodded.

"Good. You'll join me when we fight him, then, and I also want … Brooke and Heather. Sabrina, Erica, Moira and Kestrel are our decoy group, if we need one. No arguing," I warned, seeing defiance in Sabrina's eyes.

"You really think I'm going to waste my skills as a DECOY?" Moria yelled.

"Yes, if you want to be of any help at all," I spat back at her.

"Why can't I help fight the Oni?"

"Why don't you stop acting like a three year old and DO WHAT I TOLD YOU? I have no problem killing you, remember. None at all."

"And you won't have my help if you kill me, quite obviously."

"Will you quit arguing, already?" Brooke complained. "Are we gonna kill that overgrown elephant or aren't we?" I shot one last incinerating glare at Moira, and then nodded.

"Bat, let's go. Take the back path to the Cave of Solitude."

By the time we were half way through the cave, I was beginning to wonder if it was a better choice to take the shortcut than to go through Kishibe Village. The Cave of Solitude seemed horribly ill, just like the village, but it was the earth itself that was sick, and not just the people. The water was polluted and green, clogged with foul-scented algae and all kinds of strange bugs, probably mutated by the poisonous air. Green clouds hung close to the ground, and my friends and I had to tie rags over our mouths and our mounts' mouths to keep from breathing in the noxious fumes. Clumps of enormous, sickly green fungus grew, killing the grass and turning it a strange brownish color. The trees were dying, their leaves falling in bunches as we passed, trying not to disturb the still air.

"This is horrible," Sabrina choked through the rag on her face. "How could this have happened?"

"Clearly you never read your history, Sabrina. I'm sure Erica can explain it to you," Destiny replied softly. The Thaumaturge nodded, and then started to speak.

"Long ago, thousands of years ago, in fact, the elephants were just another species. They came from Zafaria originally, and were one of the first species to inhabit Mooshu. They became almost instant friends with the native cows, pigs and sheep. After a while, though, the elephants became greedy for more power. A war broke out between the elephants and the native creatures, and the elephants won due to their incredible, almost godlike strength and power in battle. Their four leaders were grotesquely large and powerful, and they immediately divided up the land into four sections. Bin Song, the eldest, chose to rule the villages. Bin Tao, the wisest, chose to rule over all the water in Mooshu; in his eyes, whoever controlled the water also controlled everything else, because water was the basis of everything that lived. Bin Tian, the cruelest, selected the Underworld as his domain; he believed that the dead were not justly punished for their mistakes. The youngest and fiercest, Bin Meng, was given the countryside to rule, and in his anger, he attacked his three brothers. The eldest resolved the fight and appeased Bin Meng by giving him control of the army. For three thousand years, the elephants ruled Mooshu harshly, driving the people to desperation and near starvation. The Moodha found peace towards the end of those three thousand years, and in that moment that he did, defying all of the demons of Mooshu, the four elephant leaders were banished into tiny, insignificant spirits called the Oni. Not long after, the first Emperor rose to power and restored peace and glory to Mooshu."

"What does _that_ have to do with anything?" The Theurgist retorted.

"The Plague Oni, formerly known as Bin Tao, still resides in the water of Mooshu. Until recently, when he was restored to some of his former evil power by Malistaire, he was a spirit incapable of anything. Now, he has returned in demon-form to damage Mooshu as much as he can. He's poisoned all the water he can, and his plague has only spread through the Cave of Solitude, Shirataki Temple, Shoshun Village and Kishibe Village so far. That's what's causing all this." Erica waved a hand around, indicating the poisoned earth. Sabrina was silent.

"What's making that sound?" Destiny asked suddenly, turning to the left. I listened closely. Sure enough, there was an odd choking sound coming from behind a clump of bushes …

"Be careful," Heather called as I followed Destiny towards the sound. I motioned for my friend to stand back, drew my cutlass, and tentatively brushed aside the leaves. Lying in a heap on the ground was what looked like a very, very sick goat. He was dressed in the saffron robes of a Moodhist monk, but there was a silver braid on his shoulder. A staff lay nearby. Destiny gasped.

"Sir! Sir, are you okay?" She asked, cautiously touching the monk's shoulder. He coughed and twitched slightly, but didn't make any sign of having seen her.

"He's got … whatever it is that's infecting all the villagers," I realized. "Hey, Sabrina! Erica! Get over here!" The two girls were by my side in a moment.

"Who-"

"No idea. Do either of you have any idea what the cure is for the plague that's infecting Kishibe Village?" Sabrina shook her head.

"Well …" Erica sounded unsure of herself.

"What do you know? Anything is helpful!"

"Well, the virus itself comes from the mushrooms, which are work of the Plague Oni. If we destroy enough of the mushrooms, we should be able to stop it from spreading. As for the cure … I read something about red berries, but they're extremely rare."

"Any idea where they are or what they are?"

"They're called Goji Berries. There are some growing in the Hedge Maze on Unicorn Way, but they're native to Mooshu. I don't know anything past that." I sighed and rubbed my forehead. We had a name, but no location, and without a location, there was no way to find the cure to help the monk.

"I think … the alchemist should have some, if he's still working around here," Sabrina ventured carefully.

"What alchemist?"

"Hakaru Yip. He always worked here when I was in Mooshu, anyways." She shrugged. "If he's still here, his hut should be inside the Rock Maze."

"Go find him and see if he has any Goji Berries," I told her, turning back to the monk. "Destiny, can you do anything to help him?"

"I can try." The Theurgist pulled out her wand and began weaving a complex healing spell. I crossed my fingers behind my back.

_**A/N:** Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a cliffhanger. I'll try to update once more before camp starts, but then that's it! No more until September! _


	46. Chapter 46: Guardian Din Ho

_**A/N: **I've been feeling nice lately, plus I'm sick of studying for bloody FINALS (xP) so I'm being extra super nice and updating once more before I go to camp. xD Do enjoy. _

"Got 'em." A small, dark brown bag made of sackcloth was dropped into my lap, and I glanced up at Sabrina.

"Thanks. Do we have to do anything, or do we just feed them to him?" She thought carefully for a minute, as though she'd forgotten.

"Master Yip said to feed him one berry… I'm pretty sure it's just one per patient, but I might be wrong …"

"Don't make me nervous," I growled, opening the pouch. Inside were a few dozen berries, each one a perfect ruby red. They were shiny and perfectly round, smooth to the touch, and had a sweet smell. Destiny held out her hand for a berry, which she then slipped past the monk's lips. A moment passed, and then two, and there was no change.

"Sabrina, are you _sure_ it was only one? Did you get the right berries?" Destiny asked urgently.

"Of course I'm sure," the taller Theurgist snapped back. Her expression was sour and angered, but her voice said otherwise. She sounded nervous, maybe even scared. Destiny seemed about to argue, but just then, there was a cough. We all stared at the monk. He coughed twice more, and then his eyes cracked open slightly.

"Who … who are you?" He croaked.

"Don't try and speak unless you're feeling okay," Destiny whispered to him, smiling in relief.

"I am awake … not dead at all … how did you cure the poison?"

"Goji berries. Sabrina got them," I told him, nodding towards Sabrina. She smiled proudly.

"Told you I was right," she muttered, crossing her arms.

"Thank you, honored ones. I am forever in your debt." He slowly sat up. "My name is Din Ho. I am the guardian of the waters here."

"Pleased to meet you, sir," Destiny replied, bowing slightly. "We are wizards from the Ravenwood School of Magic. I'm Destiny, that's Alexandra, and that is Sabrina." She pointed to each of us as she introduced us. I nodded to the monk.

"We're looking for the Plague Oni. Do you know where he is?" For a moment, Din Ho seemed confused, and then his expression changed to surprise and fear.

"You are looking for the treacherous demon? Where is the logic in that, or even sanity? No one searches for the Oni; everyone runs from him. You'd have to be a fool to seek him out." I shrugged.

"I guess we're REALLY crazy, then, because we're here to kill him."

"Impossible! The Emperor himself tried and failed to defeat the Oni! Look where his Imperial Majesty is now; indisposed and asleep in his palace!" I glared.

"Look, Din Ho. You said it yourself; you're in our debt. We saved your life. The least you can do to help us is to reveal the Oni's location. If you think we're not powerful enough to kill him, well … you're wrong."

"What makes you think that you can defeat the Plague Oni?" I leaned closer to him, my eyes burning with rage.

"I _single-handedly _killed the War Oni and three minions. If I alone can kill the legendary Bin Tao, I'm _positive_ that my three friends and I can kill the Plague Oni. Where is he?" Din Ho's eyes widened in shock, and his expression held a new respect. He stood shakily and bowed to me.

"Honored Alexandra, forgive me for underestimating you. The Plague Oni has taken up residence in Shirataki Temple, the source of purity and prosperity for all the water in Mooshu. Just inside the grounds of the temple is a novitiate monk named Shai Fung. He will tell you how to find Sun Hing, the guardian of the temple."

"Thank you, Din Ho." Destiny took the pouch of berries from me and handed it to the monk. "Here; take these. A single Goji Berry will cure the plague. We've got to take care of the Oni, so will you help cure the sick villagers?"

"Of course. I will do my best. Thank you once again for your help, honored wizards. Good luck on your journey." He bowed to us once again as we climbed onto our mounts. I held on tightly to Bat's reigns.

"Take the fastest path to the Shirataki Temple grounds," I told my dragon. She ran forwards a few steps and took to the air.

About 15 minutes later, we reached the temple gates. A young goat in pale orange novitiate robes bowed to us.

"Are you Shai Fung?" I called down from Bat's back.

"I am. What service may I do for you, wizards?"

"Where do we find Sun Hing?" He hesitated.

"Master Sun Hing … he is within the central walls of the temple. The gates have been barred on his orders, and they cannot be opened until the fires have been lit within each of the Elemental Shrines."

"Well, then, where are the shrines?"

"They are heavily guarded …" Shai Fung began, but I held up a hand to cut him off.

"I don't care about guards. Just tell me where the shrines are." With a shaking hand, the monk pointed to the north.

"There are four: the Shrine of Water, the Shrine of Earth, the Shrine of Wind and the Shrine of Fire. There are four fierce guardians within each one; you will have to be very skillful to defeat them."

"Thanks." I turned to my friends. "So, what's the plan?" None of them spoke for a minute. Moira crossed her arms and sighed exaggeratedly.

"Does _everything_ have to be plastered to your face for you to understand it, Alex?" She complained.

"Don't call me that."

"Fine. _You're_ the leader, ALEXANDRA. _You_ make the decisions, not us." I glanced at the rest of the group. Erica and Brooke nodded to me.

"Well … uh … Destiny, Brooke and Heather, come with me to the Shrines of Water and Earth. Erica, take Kestrel, Sabrina and Moira to the other two Shrines. Meet us at the main gate to the Temple when you're done."

"How will we light the fires?" Erica asked.

"Huh?"

"Well … you guys have Brooke, and she's a secondary Pyromancer, but … none of us know Fire Magic. How will we light the fires?" I shrugged.

"I dunno … hydra? Spectral blast? Whatever you can come up with. If you need to, use a nonmagical fire." Erica rolled her eyes, but didn't question me.

"If you say so, Alexandra. We'll see you at the gate."

_**A/N: **And there you have it. No more cliffhanger. I shall see you all again in September. (Or before, if I'm feeling REALLY generous.) _


	47. Chapter 47: Oni Hunt

_**A/N: **__O_O All I can say is, you people are VERY, VERY lucky that I updated this EARLY in September … the way school is going (two LONG homework assignments already, and it's only day one. O_O) I probably won't be updating more than twice a month after this. O_O Danged homework … danged school … xP _

_**To awesomesocks:**__ I'm sorry; my O.C. spots are already full, both for this story and the sequel. If I had space, I would use your character, but I can't. Sorry! :( I can _try _to put her in as a minor character, but I make no promises just yet._

_**To SuperYuuki: **__I will if I can't find anything I like better. :)_

_**Chapters 1-12 have been edited and re-posted. I highly suggest that you read them, especially chapter 12. That one contains a MAJOR PLOT CHANGE that will GREATLY AFFECT LATER CHAPTERS.**_

_For those of you that don't know, I've been revealing a few things about the sequel/later chapters on my forum. ^^ It's not too hard to find; just click on "Wizard101 forums" and mine is the first one in the list. _

"Well, I've only got to light this last shrine, and then we can get going. I have a feeling that-"

"Whatever. Enough talking. The faster we kill this Oni, the sooner we get It wasn't horribly hard to defeat the guardians; they were mostly Myth and Fire, so we beat them quickly. Lighting the fires was also an easy task. Brooke summoned a Fire Cat at each shrine to light the fires.

As the Diviner was summoning the second cat, I paced impatiently.

"Alexandra, calm down," Destiny whispered, gently touching my arm. I shot her a glare, but I stopped pacing.

When the fire was finally blazing, I turned towards the door.

"Alexandra? W-what's the p-plan?" Heather stuttered nervously.

"First, we meet the others at the main temple gate. Next, we find Sun Hing and find out where to find the Plague Oni, and how to get to him. After that, we kill the Oni, and then we go back to the Jade Palace and meet Evan; he'll hopefully have found out where the other Oni are, and then we can go after them. Once those four are dead … we find the Dragonspyre Spiral Key and get out of here." The rest of the plan was rather obvious once we reached that point: Find Malistaire and kill him.

I wasn't anticipating it, by any means. I knew that I no longer cared about the Death Professor, but I had never loved to kill _people. _Undead were different; they were already dead. Living, breathing, thinking human beings- especially ones that I knew well- they were a lot harder to kill, even for a Necromancer.

-V-

As promised, the other four were waiting by the Shirataki Temple gate. I nodded to them as we approached.

"Turns out that Sabrina here knows Pyromancy," Erica told me, grinning slightly. The Theurgist shrugged.

"Only up to Fire Elf. What can I say? I was bored."

Fabulous. Now let's get out of here," I growled, pulling the brim of my hat lower to try and block out some of the blinding sunshine.

Sun Hing was pretty easy to spot. He wore a vibrant saffron robe with a gold braid running from his shoulder to his hip, and there was a gold sash around his waist. The old Temple Guardian leaned heavily on a staff made of birch wood polished so well, it had become the color of soft butter.

"Greetings, wizards. I have heard much about you," the goat said softly, nodding to us. "You have come to find the Plague Oni, have you not?"

"Yeah. Shai Fung said that we could find you here, and that you'd tell us how to get to the Oni." The monk closed his eyes for a moment, thinking silently. We waited.

"The demon you seek dwells within the Temple, as you know. Entering the Temple will be no easy task; the road is infested by poisoned spirits, each of them extremely angry. They control Storm Magic and seek to stop any other intruders from entering the Temple to defoul it. They will stand in your way; it may take a very long time to battle your way to the Temple Courtyard." He waited for a response.

"We're not afraid of spirits. If they attack us, we'll defeat them. What do we do once we're in the courtyard?"

"Inside, you will find four lanterns, four braziers and four plaques. First you must light the lanterns. Each must be lit with a different color of fire: red, blue, green and purple. Once they all burn, each of the braziers must burn in one of the same four colors. Finally, you must activate the plaques. The way to activate them is a riddle; you will have to decode it on your own in order to enter. It is a test of your worth. There is a book on a pedestal in the center of the Temple Courtyard, and in it you will find the riddle. If you can answer it and activate the plaques in the proper order, the Temple doors will open and you will be allowed to enter. Good luck to you all, and may you all return safely." He gave us a small smile.

"Thank you, sir," Heather said softly, bowing to the monk. Sabrina and Chelsea also bowed, I noticed. I climbed back onto Bat's back and tapped her sides with my heels.

"Let's go, Bat. Follow the path."

-V-

I flew between Heather and Moira.

"Why'd you bother bowing to him?" Moira asked, sounding almost curious as opposed to rude. Heather glared at her out of the corner of her eye before replying.

"It's a Mooshuese custom. It's bad manners _not _to bow before someone as high of a rank as Sun Hing. I'm guessing he forgave all of you, since you didn't know, but you'd better remember for the next time we meet someone like him." Her tone was frosty and sharp; I'd never expected _Heather, _of all people, to talk to someone like that, but after all, it was _Moira. _I had a feeling that most of the group would gladly gouge out her eyes and leave her for the spirits to kill.

The Necromancer in question seemed like she was going to reply, but before she got a chance, a lightening bolt flew by her ear, cutting off a lock of hair in the process. My gaze shot to the front of the path.

"Storm spirits …" Perhaps we should have been a little more careful …

_**A/N: **__That was awful, it was short, and it was half a month late. Sorry about that. My Muse is currently dead for this story; I can promise that I'll try and make the next few better, but I don't know how well that will work. Don't worry, though, there's an upcoming scene that will put most of this story to shame. XD _


	48. Chapter 48: Of Dueling and Riddles

_**A/N: **__Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and thanks to all of you for your patience. ^^ I'm taking such a long time on this … O_o Also, what do you guys think of the cover I drew? :)_

The first one rounded the corner and came barreling at us. Sickly green water was gushing out of an algae coated iron helmet and taking on a strange human form. A pair of angry, purple glowing eyes glared out at us from under the helmet, and it wielded a second lightening bolt like a sword. Brooke quickly cast a storm shield on herself and held it up in front of her, gripping it tightly with both hands as she ran towards the spirit. Rapidly, she drew her long, shimmering gray sword from its scabbard and turned, sliding the broadsword under the helmet. The spirit moaned angrily and exploded in a burst of smelly green smoke.

She relaxed slightly, but we hadn't seen the last of the spirits. Two more charged around the corner, these ones in kraken form. Brooke dueled with the first while Erica pulled a short icy axe from her backpack and ran at the second one. I slid my cutlass out of the scabbard on my hip and selected a card. The dark light streamed from the tip of my sword as I drew the Death Symbol, and then I touched the card. A huge dragon made of bones slithered out of the card, hissing and baring its sharp fangs. It reared the moment its back legs were free of the card, and it flew straight into the thickening group of spirits, smashing into them with its deadly horns.

It wasn't long before we were outnumbered six to one, and I was sure that there were more on their way. It was in that moment that I spotted Heather, cowering behind her horse and sobbing.

"Heather! Come on, we need your help!" I yelled, spearing two spirits on my sword. She gave me a fearful, wide eyed look.

"I …"

"You're a Conjurer! Come _on, _come help us!"

"I can't! I'll just get us all killed!" She shrieked, burying her face in her hands. I sliced through a few more of the storm spirits before dashing over to the Conjurer. "I'm not strong enough … I won't do anything but hurt you!" She whimpered.

"Heather Rosegem! Haven't we been over this? You're just as useful and powerful as anyone in this entire group, and here's your chance to prove it! Please, we need your help!" I spun around as I heard Erica yell a warning, just barely blocking three simultaneous lightening bolts against my sword. I tried to force them away, but the strength of the three storm spirits was too much for me, and I suddenly found myself flat against the ground, the three lightening bolts poised to cut deep into my stomach.

They never reached me. A flash of light exploded from their helmets, and the three spirits dissolved. The road, formerly dark and stormy, was suddenly bathed in a soft gold warmth, and a few feathers floated down from the sky. Each one began to glow light blue, and the feathers slowly transformed into flashing swords.

Shy little Heather herself emerged from behind me, glowing just as brightly as the swords. The disc on the top of her staff had turned a deep blue color.

"Time of Legend?" I whispered. The Conjurer didn't acknowledge that she'd heard me. She glared fiercely at the crowds of storm spirits, standing completely alone against at least twenty of them. The spirits seemed confused for a minute. Sluggishly, they began to move, trying to raise their lightening bolts to strike Heather down. They barely knew what hit them as the Conjurer ran forwards with a yell, spinning her staff over her head and slicing through the spirits' bodies. They exploded with a hiss, splattering everyone with drops of the green water.

Heather wasn't finished, though. With the swords flying beside her, she charged into the thickest part of the spirits, attacking them furiously with her staff. I grinned. I had known she'd had it in her. I quickly pushed myself back up into a standing position and retrieved my fallen cutlass, yelling a battle cry as I ran after the Conjurer. My other friends joined me, and we attacked the hordes of storm spirits with renewed strength.

It was still a difficult battle- after all, we were still outnumbered 5 to one- but with Time of Legend weakening the Storm power, the spirits were moving slower, and their attacks had lost their bite. Brooke switched to her Pyromancy to avoid being weakened by Heather's spell. The eight of us battled our way through the hordes of Storm spirits, and when the last one fell, I sheathed my sword with a _click. _

"Well, that was fun."

"Fun? Are you out of your _mind? _We could have died!" Brooke yelled. I rolled my eyes.

"Sarcasm, Brooke, sarcasm! Heather, nice job; you came in just when we needed you." I gave her the faintest of smiles, and she grinned back shyly.

"Th-thanks … I guess you w-were right, Alex." I nodded.

"We'd better hurry up; there could be other spirits, and I'd rather not have to fight those things again," Brooke said, shuddering.

-V-

Thankfully, we didn't run into any more Storm spirits on our way to the temple. An enormous stone arch led the way into a small, square courtyard.

"Sabrina, Erica, Heather and Destiny, go light the braziers. Moira, Kestrel and Brooke, light one lantern each; I'll light the last one," I instructed, approaching one of the lanterns. It was made of stone, yet it was surprisingly well crafted; there were images of flowers and trees carved into the base of it, and the lantern itself was carved to look like a giant lotus blossom. I touched my wand to the center of the flower, and it burst into ice blue flames. I turned and watched as colorful fires lit up all around the courtyard. We all returned to the huge red book in the center of the place.

"These plaques … they have really weird pictures on them. I've done a lot of research on Mooshuese art, but … I've never seen these images before," Erica mused, inspecting the four large plaques. I had to agree; the images were strange.

"Want to look at the riddle, Erica? You're our best bet for answering it." Destiny flipped open the book. The pages immediately turned to the center of the tome, and the Thaumaturge slowly approached the book. She leaned over it and intently studied the words on the page. Her expression became one of surprise, and then confusion.

"This is strange … it says 'The answer is the moon.' There's no explanation, no pictures, nothing; there's just those five words. The answer is the moon." She carefully tapped the pages with her wand, possibly trying to make hidden words appear. There was no reaction. I peered over her shoulder. Sure enough, the five words were the only thing on the page.

"D-did you check the other p-pages?" Heather suggested. Erica tried to turn to another page, but it was like the book was made of rock. The Thaumaturge shook her head helplessly. Moira stared intently at the book before approaching one of the plaques. She carefully ran her hand along the side of it.

"What are you doing?" I asked, exasperated. She shook her head at me before drawing her wand. The albino girl traced the bizarre, abstract pattern on the plaque, and it began to glow black. Slowly, the shape rearranged itself into the image of a war hammer. While the other seven of us stared at her in shock, Moira did the same with the other three plaques, revealing images of a strange house, a skull and a river.

"This is the same kind of lock Malistaire uses in the Crown of Fire," she told us, glaring at the images. "I've never seen him use this one before, though. Usually, he uses something relevant to what's behind the door; these are just stupid pictures."

"No …" Erica stepped closer to the plaques. "It's the history of the Oni!"

"They're pictures. How is that the history of the Oni?" Kestrel asked curiously.

"Remember the story I told you earlier? First is Bin Song, the eldest, who chose the villages." She pressed her wand tip to the house. "Second is Bin Tao, the wisest, who rules the water. Bin Tian is the cruelest, and he chose the underworld, and Bin Meng, the youngest, is in charge of the military!" As she touched the war hammer, the four plaques glowed bright blue and disappeared with a flash. We heard a creaking behind us, and as I turned, I saw that the temple doors were slowly opening.

"Nice job, Erica … and Moira. Destiny, Heather, you're coming with me, and Brooke. The rest of you, go back to the Jade Palace and meet Evan." Before Moira could protest, I continued speaking. "It's nothing personal, but only four can fight him. If Evan's found anything, you eight can start investigating it." Grumbling under her breath, Moira stalked out of the temple grounds, followed by Kestrel, Sabrina and Erica.

"L-let's go," Heather whispered. Her hand shook as she gripped her staff tighter. The four of us climbed the temple stairs.


	49. Chapter 49: Wise One

_**A/N: **__Geez Louise … chapter 50 already! O_o I'm hoping to finish Mooshu by 52, and the story itself should be over by chapter 65, most likely. Updates will come a little faster now that my Muse has returned- I hope._

_**In response to my reviews …**_

_**Quay**__: I will be sure to fix that when I get a chance to. ^^_

I marveled at the beauty of the temple as we entered the colossal stone building. The intricate, geometrical carved designs were incredibly well crafted. A domed ceiling rose high above our heads as we stepped into a grand hall, and in it were strange, curved slits to let in the sunlight. I looked down at the floor, where the light formed a Mooshuese symbol on the floor. It seemed familiar from somewhere …

"That's the Mooshuese word for 'water,'" Brooke told us. "I've seen it in some of my Storm textbooks." I nodded. It made sense, since this was a temple dedicated solely to water. I was sure that the four of us could have gone on admiring the temple for much longer, had we not noticed a hulking figure seated at the very back of the temple- right on the platform where the altar should have been, I noted. It was a gigantic, copper colored elephant garbed entirely in brown. Long, dangerously curved tusks curled out from the elephant's jawbone, and on his head was a dark bronze armored headpiece. The creature seemed to be meditating with his eyes closed.

"Welcome to my humble abode," the Oni said softly. His voice was like the sound of wind in the trees. I was surprised at how quickly he'd heard us. The Plague Oni seemed completely at peace- asleep, even- and yet his wide, shell- shaped ears heard every noise in the temple. "You have come to destroy me." It was a simple enough statement. Ordinarily, I knew that I would have scoffed at the comment and retorted with something nasty … but strangely, I felt almost … ashamed. I had done a terrible thing by coming to the temple. I had disturbed a sacred place, and this sacred being as well. Such beauty, such power …

"Snap out of it, Alex! He's using some kind of charm on you!" Brooke snapped, shoving me gently. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and then I focused on the Oni once more, staring him straight in the eye- which had just opened. There I could see his true evil; the Plague Oni's eyes betrayed his true purpose. I glared at him.

"Your tricks aren't going to work on us, demon," I snarled, drawing my cutlass and stepping forwards threateningly. "Prepare to die."

The Oni only laughed. "You think I am a fool? No, little wizards, I have heard far and wide of your strength. It would be a very poor move to cross swords with the likes of you."

"Then answer a riddle," Destiny called boldly.

"Destiny," I hissed. "What are you doing?"

"Trust me," she whispered back. "If you can answer the riddle correctly, Plague Oni, we will leave you in peace. If you cannot answer it, though, you'll have no choice but to fight us."

"Ah, now the tables turn, and the wizards become the fools. Do not challenge me in a battle of wits, little Theurgist. I know all. I see all. I feel all. None can defeat me with their mind power alone."

"I want to try, still," Destiny insisted. "Let me ask you a riddle, Oni. See if your mind is as powerful as mine is."

"Very well. Give me your riddle," the Oni agreed, closing his eyes once more.

"If you're alone, I'll be your shadow, but when the sky is bright, I won't disappear. I'm your shoulder when you want to cry, your smile when you're happy. You don't always see me, but you know I'm always there. I am forever, but I don't live forever. Forget a letter of mine, and I will become a villain. There is one living thing in this room that does not know me. What am I?"

I was completely stumped. It seemed like there were different answers for each sentence. How would the Oni answer _that? _The gigantic elephant seemed to be wondering the exact same thing. For a full five minutes, he pondered the answer, and finally, he opened his eyes, stared straight at Destiny, and told her,

"You are very clever, little wizard. I cannot answer this riddle. Tell me, though. What is the answer?" My best friend smiled.

"Friend. Friends are there when you need them. They're happy when you are, and they cry when you cry. Even if they aren't there, you know that they will be there for you. Friends are forever, but no one is immortal. If you leave the letter 'r' out of the word 'friend,' the word becomes 'fiend.' You do not know friendship, Plague Oni, and you never will." I expected the Oni to be angry- and yet he just smiled.

"Clever indeed. Are you still sure you must battle me? I will give you one last chance to walk away, little wizards." I felt the Oni's power try and change my mind, but I quickly focused on his eyes and glared at him.

"We outsmarted you, Oni, and if we can outsmart you, we can out-duel you. Pick up your weapon and let's get this started." I tapped the ground twice with my cutlass, and the large dueling circle painted itself onto the floor.

"Very well." The Plague Oni stood, picking up his sword from beside him. The hilt was inlaid with a gigantic sapphire, and the bronze blade glinted dangerously as the sunlight hit it. I knew that, had we fought in physical combat as opposed to a magic duel, my cutlass would be shattered on impact with the enormous scimitar, and the Oni could chop me in half as easily as a vegetable. Thankfully, though, the elephant stepped into his side of the dueling circle and drew a deck of cards. My friends and I entered our half of the dueling circle. I selected the top seven cards of my deck and inspected them. It was an interesting hand; there was a blade and two traps, alone with skeletal dragon, wraith, a shield and sacrifice.

"I've got something," Destiny told us quietly. "If you have any way to boost Life damage against him, use it!" I nodded to acknowledge her, and I played my curse card. It would increase the damage from any school.

"That's all I've got. What are you casting?" I asked her.

"I've got 'lord," she told me, casting a life blade. Brooke passed as she looked through her cards, and Heather played a Life Trap.

"Would you care for some pips?" I asked her, noticing that I'd gotten my Empower, which would take damage from me- but give three pips to someone else. Destiny grinned as she waited for the Oni to cast his spell. I took note of his health- just over 2,000- as he drew a balance symbol. It was a weakness on Destiny. She frowned.

"I can get rid of that if you don't mind me using the traps," Heather told the Theurgist softly.

"Feel free," Destiny offered. The Conjurer played Earthquake, removing all of the traps from the Plague Oni- but also destroying the weakness.

The moment the Theurgist had enough pips, she cast her Forest Lord. The gigantic creature roared to life, tearing into the Plague Oni. He collapsed with a soft sigh of pain, and the dueling circle disappeared, signifying his surrender. My three friends and I slowly approached the gigantic elephant, and he nodded to us as we approached.

"You … have fought well, wizards. You truly … deserve this victory." He drew in a painful breath. "Please, now … leave me … in my pain. Do not … do not humiliate me farther. Please." I nodded to my friends, and we turned to depart. Just then, Destiny let out a high pitched scream of pain, and I spun around to see the Oni's scimitar just barely sticking into her shoulder.

"Release her!" I shouted, sprinting over to my friend and catching her before she fell onto the blade. The Oni laughed one last time.

"Bin Tao has done much in his life, and he will bring one last victim with him as he goes to the domain of his brother," the Oni replied, switching into third person as he laughed.

"Heather, Brooke! Give me a hand!" I snapped, carefully pulling the sword out of Destiny's shoulder. She cried out in pain as the blade was removed, and the blood began to flow freely. Cursing to myself, I tore off a piece of my hat and pressed it into the wound. Heather, with her face whiter than a ghost, was drawing the Life Symbol with her staff. Brooke stepped forwards to continue holding the fabric to Destiny's wound while I turned back to the Oni. Without a moment's hesitation, I slid my long, sharp blade under his armor and into his ribs. The giant elephant gasped once and was gone, leaving for the world of his brother.

"What service do you require, Secondary Theurgist?" A soft, kind voice asked. Standing in front of Heather was a satyr.

"P-p-please, will you h-heal m-m-my f-friend?" The Conjurer stuttered, pointing with a shaky hand to Destiny.

"Of course." The satyr bowed. "Diviner, if you will, please remove your hand from the wound. It must be open for me to heal it." Brooke hesitantly pulled the blood soaked fabric from the Theurgist's wound, and the satyr began to play a fast- paced tune on his reed pipes. The music was visible as a green light as it danced and spun its way over to my best friend, carefully easing into her bloody wound. The light settled like a patch over Destiny's shoulder, and she collapsed. "There. She will sleep for a short time, and when she awakes, her injury will be healed."

"Th-th-thank you very m-much," Heather whispered.

"Of course, Secondary Theurgist." The satyr disappeared, leaving behind the faintest scent of flowers.

_"Alexandra." _Evan's voice sounded in my head.

_"What is it?" _

_"Oni-No-Death is dead." _

"What?" I gasped, accidentally speaking aloud. I motioned for my friends to stay silent, noting their confused stares, as I repeated the question in my mind.

_"Erica and the others showed up just as we discovered his location. I brought her, Ashley and Sabrina, and we killed him pretty easily. Meet us back at the Jade Palace; I'm pretty sure I know where the Jade Oni is." _

_**A/N: **__Next chapter: THE END OF MOOSHU! xD Also, a scene I've been plotting for MONTHS. _


	50. Chapter 50: Shatter

_**A/N: **__Thanks to all of you who reviewed! :) This will be a loooooooooooooooooong chapter. xD_

_**In response to ze reviews…**_

_**Scarletfireblaze: **__No, unfortunately I am not quite as smart as Erica. xD I found several different riddles about friendship online, and I squished a few of them together. I also added that bit about "One in this room doesn't know me." xD I'm afraid we're back to fight scenes in this chapter, but pretty soon, things will be changing … _

The four of us teleported back to the Jade Palace. Brooke and I each held on to one of Destiny's arms to ensure that she teleported with us. Evan and the rest of the group were waiting on the steps of the enormous palace, their expressions solemn.

"What happened?" Erica gasped, rushing to Destiny's side.

"The Plague Oni decided to try and drag her with him to the Underworld," I told her grimly, glaring out at the Thaumaturge from under my shredded hat brim.

"Did anyone try to heal her, or did you just drag her along?" I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, we're not THAT stupid! Of course we healed her! Well, Heather did, anyways. Her satyr said that Destiny will be asleep for a little while, and when she wakes up, her wound will be healed." Erica nodded in satisfaction.

"Good. You did the right thing, Heather." The Conjurer blushed. "Anyways, I'm not sure how long she's gonna be asleep, but it's probably best that she stays here. I'm sure one of the samoorai could guard her."

"Hey, what's up with the Jade Oni, anyways? You said you found out where he is …?" I glanced pointedly at Evan. The Dragonspyrian boy jerked a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the palace itself. "Wait, you can't mean-"

"The Jade Oni is in there? Yeah. He is." The Pyromancer nodded, glaring disgustedly at the palace. "It would seem that the Oni are the reason behind the Emperor's illness, and the Jade Oni- he's the oldest- was the mastermind behind the entire plot. However, he had some help."

"Malistaire." Moira spat at the ground, treating Malistaire's name like a dirty word. Evan nodded again.

"Most likely. The monks and villagers noticed a strange disturbance coming from the Spiral Chamber last month. We questioned Su Lee, the chamber's guardian, and she said that a strange, dark man came from the portal. He knocked her unconscious before she could get a good look at her, but the description matches Malistaire's."

"Wait … what would Malistaire want in Mooshu, though?" I wondered.

"Fruit from the Tree of Life," Moira replied angrily. "It's the last ingredient to his spell, the one that's going to raise Sylvia from the dead. He needed you out of the way, so he attacked Wizard City. He needed the Krokonomicon, so he attacked Krokotopia. The last thing was the Tree of Life's fruit, but there was no way for him to get to it. The four Oni promised to help him if he would help them." It all made perfect sense. The pieces of the twisted puzzle were fitting together.

"And now he's going to Dragonspyre, where he will raise the Dragon Titan to bring Sylvia back," I realized. The albino girl nodded. I closed my eyes. "This is just what I was afraid of. Malistaire is willing to destroy anything and everything to bring her back, and if it means destroying the entire Spiral in the process, he'll do it." A feeling of doom and uneasiness settled over our group.

"We have to get to Dragonspyre. The Emperor has the key, and so we'll probably have to fight the Jade Oni to get it back," Ashley noted.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for? Chelsea, find someone to watch over Destiny, and stay with them. I don't want you getting hurt in this fight- no, don't give me that look; just go. Only four can enter a dueling arena at a time, so you don't even have a shot at helping out." The Magus stalked off, pulling the unconscious Theurgist with her.

"Kestrel and I are helping in the fight," Moira insisted. "We're Necromancers, and if the Jade Oni is Life, you'll want four Necromancers going against him."

"We have _three_ Necromancers, Moonchaser," I reminded her sharply.

"And me. My secondary school is Death," Evan reminded me. I nodded.

"Fine. Evan, Kestrel, Moira and I will take on the Jade Oni. The rest of you, feel free to come in; we'll probably have to search for the Spiral Key, and we could use help with that. If you try anything funny, Moonchaser…"

"I won't," she snapped. "Seriously, Firesong, you're so unwilling to trust me. I hate that man just as much as you do; I won't turn on you guys at the last second!" I ignored her, and instead started up the steps to the palace gates.

-V-

The guards didn't give us any trouble, and we were admitted into the throne room immediately. It was a long, wide room with a high ceiling. There were curtains drawn tightly over any windows, and the only shaft of light was directly hitting the body of the sleeping Emperor. Thick clouds of spicy incense hung in the air.

"Leave … now …" I'm pretty sure I almost had a heart attack when I heard the raspy, gasping voice coming from just below me. Slowly, I looked down, and it required nearly all of my willpower to keep from screaming my head off. Sprawled on the ground was a samoorai- or what was left of a samoorai. He'd lost a leg and an arm, and he was bleeding from many wounds on his stomach and throat. He groaned in pain.

"What- who-"

"The demon … he will tear you to pieces! He will leave you to suffer a long, slow death if you do not run now!" The samoorai gasped. I drew my cutlass.

"We will kill him. Rest in peace, brave and honored warrior." I had to look away as I stabbed the soldier in the stomach. "He was suffering," I explained, seeing the looks of horror and confusion on my friends' faces.

We continued through the throne room. The incense clouds got thicker, and it became harder to see- and to breathe. I held a hand over my mouth and nose to try and filter the air a little. It didn't help much.

The laughter hit us a second later. It was cold, loud and harsh, echoing off the domed ceiling of the throne room. An enormous figure emerged from the foggy air. The Jade Oni raised a long, straight sword and swept it down in a large arc, clearing the area of incense. There he stood, in all of his grotesque glory. The demon had clothed himself in armor made of pure gold, jade and ivory. Hundreds of enormous jewels adorned the Oni's outfit, and despite the weight of all his finery, the Jade Oni stood tall and proud, staring down at us as though we were bugs ready to be squished.

"Welcome, mortals! You are just in time to see the reign of the Oni begin!" He raised his sword in the air and trumpeted loud enough to wake the dead. I didn't flinch or back down, although, for the first time in nine years, I felt scared enough to run, screaming in terror, from the threat.

"Evan, Kestrel, Moira, in that order, follow me," I hissed. The four of us charged straight at the Oni, drawing a dueling circle as we ran. The demon roared in protest, but he immediately changed his mind and drew a deck of cards from his pocket. I began the assault on the Oni. I took all of my anger, all of my hatred, all of my sorrow, and poured it into my wraith card, forcing the spell to critical. Kestrel proved strangely skilled with a pair of small daggers, driving them through cracks in the elephant's armor. Moira and Evan began building up for larger attacks.

The four of us continued our rapid attack on the demon. Not one of us spoke, and we didn't waste any time in casting large spells. The Oni was wearing down when we heard the first scream.

Across the room, I spotted the source of the problem: Malistaire had appeared to aide the Oni. He was attacking my friends with bolts of dark energy, and Heather was screaming loudly. Desperately, I searched my deck for a powerful spell to end the duel. The Jade Oni's health was nearly depleted, but it would take something strong to finish him off. My three companions were also flipping through their decks rapidly. I glanced over my shoulder. Brooke and Tristan were attacking Malistaire with their swords, trying to distract him from casting magic. Erica was searching her spell book for a shield she could use.

"I've got it!" Moira triumphantly held up a small black card. There was a boney dragon pictured close to the top of it. "Can you guys trap him?"

"Fine, but you'd better not fizzle," I spat, playing a death blade on her. The albino practically threw the card at the Jade Oni. Her blade and the traps activated, and the dragon let loose a stream of plasma. I waited anxiously to see the affect. The spell completely crushed the demon. Without delaying, I spun around and dashed across the hall, clutching the handle of my cutlass tightly. I was just in time to see Malistaire drive the pointed end of his staff into Brooke's chest.

"_BROOKE_!" I screamed. Time slowed almost to a halt around me. The world was spinning in circles, and all I could see was the staff, the blood, the pain and shock evident on Brooke's face. She toppled to the ground, slowly, slowly. I heard the slow- motion _clang_ as her sword fell from her hand. I heard the _thud _as her hand dropped. I saw the blood, a scarlet flower blossoming from the Diviner's chest. I saw the tears form in her eyes.

I dropped to my knees beside her, grabbed her hand and pleaded with her to stay with us. Sabrina desperately cast her strongest healing spell in an attempt to save her. There was no change, and the dryad bowed her head in sadness as she disappeared in a cloud of leaves. Brooke coughed- once, twice- and a few drops of blood dribbled out of her mouth. The tears escaped her eyes, leaving crooked trails down her cheeks. Although she whispered, her voice fainter than the wind, I heard her words clearly.

"Wait for me, Donna! I'm coming. Wait for me." I felt her heartbeat falter, and then stop. The very faintest of smiles appeared on the Diviner's face, and Brooke Swiftriver was no more.

"You can't have her, too," I whispered, pressing my face into her blood stained chest. "It's not fair. You can't just take whoever you feel like." There were footsteps behind me, and I turned to see Malistaire striding away.

"Alexandra-" I sprang to my feet.

"You'd better run, Malistaire Drake!" I shrieked. "You'd better run like all Hell's coming after you, and you'd better believe that it is!" I collapsed beside Brooke's body, sobbing so hard that I though my heart would tear itself out of my chest.

"She's safe now. She'll be happy with Donna," Evan whispered, his face drawn and paler than a ghost's. I shook my head.

"We are not going to rest until Brooke Swiftriver and Donna Dragonflame are avenged," I hissed, sitting up. I noticed two things immediately: an envelope clutched in Brooke's hand, and a stone that was very clearly not from Mooshu. "We're going to Dragonspyre."


	51. Chapter 51: Dragonspyre

_**A/N: **__Sorry about the wait. In this chapter, we enter Dragonspyre, and I will also have a preview for the sequel. Have I revealed the title yet? I don't know if I have. Maybe I haven't. Whatever. I'll say it again, even if I already did: The sequel will be called "The Journey of Fire's Song." X)_

Brooke's letter hadn't said much; really, all that it was were these words:

**Don't open the envelope until you defeat Malistaire. **

I recognized Brooke's sloppy scrawl easily, and sure enough, there was another, smaller envelope that the note had been wrapped around. There was no way I would go against the dead Diviner's wishes, and so I tucked the letter into my backpack. Erica clutched the Dragonspyre Spiral Key in her hands as we approached the Mooshu Spiral Chamber, and I could see the still- wet tearstains on her face.

I refused to cry. I would not allow a single tear to escape my eyes. I welcomed the familiar numbness and fought to keep myself going. If I was the leader, I had to stay strong. I _would_ stay strong. The other members of my group cried- except Moira, of course- but I wouldn't. I kept my face stony and emotionless as we entered the wide, sunny Chamber.

"Give me the key," I instructed flatly, holding out my hand. Erica set it in my palm and backed away, scrubbing at her eyes with her sleeve. "Stop crying." The command didn't address only Erica, but also anyone else who dared shed a tear. "I said stop!" I whirled around to face them. "If you want to show weakness, fine, but I remember Dragonspyre well enough to know what weakness will do to you there!"

"It's worse now," Evan added, tucking his hands into his pockets and shrugging. "If you look weak, there'll be a dozen drakes on you in a second." I was startled by the comment, but I refused to show it. Drakes were like seagulls- extremely annoying, but virtually harmless. When I had lived in Dragonspyre, the small humanoid dragons had done little more than shriek and throw clumps of ash from high on the rooftops. If they were attacking people … "By the time I left for Ravenwood, there were about forty recorded draconian deaths. No one leaves their house without a wand any more." Heather's face went chalk white.

"Well, there you go. Make sure your wands are out and be ready to fight." I unsheathed my cutlass with my right hand and pressed the Dragonspyre Spiral Key into the doorframe with my left. The key glowed brightly and locked into place. The door slowly swung open, and I boldly stepped forwards into the glowing entryway.

The moment I emerged from the Spiral Door, I was hit in the face with a wave of heat so intense that I almost fell back into the portal. Sulfuric ashes blew into my eyes and stung worse than anything I'd ever felt before, and I spent a moment rubbing my eyes to get the ash out. I quickly reached into my backpack and pulled out a hat that had been imported from Dragonspyre. I'd seen it at the Master Merchant's shop and gotten it on a whim, and I was getting more and more glad that I'd done so. It was more of a hood, really, and it covered my entire head and neck. There was a birdlike mask that covered my eyes, complete with a filmy substance over the eye holes to protect my eyes from blowing ashes. I shoved my tattered hat into the backpack and pulled on the hood, finally getting a good look at the Basilica.

I remembered the place as a beautiful world, with networks of clear, cool rivers flowing throughout the entire place and with trees growing everywhere they could take root. I remembered strong, thick walls built of light brown stone that had been shipped from Krokotopia, walls that were built to keep out any army. I remembered groups of people that would gather in the Basilica to chat and trade. Merchants had once crowded the lowest level of the place, setting up small stalls and calling out to passersby. The Basilica had once been a place to socialize, to laugh, to have fun.

Not anymore.

Hot lava oozed through the riverbeds now, and steam billowed out in thick clouds. All that remained of the plants were charred black stems and trunks. The grass was no longer there at all; the ground was a mottled combination of cracked rock formed from cooled lava and crumbling blocks that had been stained red from blood. There was no one in sight except for a group of drakes flying around the distant Crown of Fire. Ashes blew in the air like fallen leaves, and bones littered the ground. There had been some kind of battle there … or a massacre.

"What happened here?" I asked Evan as he stepped through the doorway.

"The Dragon Titan woke. He destroyed everything … thousands of people died in that battle. Ravina Blackwing and Fyrina Bloodhand themselves couldn't turn him back. In the end, all of the wizards in Dragonspyre banded together and put the Titan into a deep sleep, but they couldn't undo all of _that._" He gestured to the lava river. "There's very little water in the city now; it's imported from Wintertusk, and the ravens have steep prices. Having to buy water is bankrupting the government, and so there's no money to rebuild the city. This place is pretty much doomed, although people do what they can." He frowned. "That was about seven years ago."

"That was the year after I left, then."

"Yeah." The entire group was silent as they looked upon the remains of the once-powerful world. I could see the three-tiered city in the distance, topped by the Crown of Fire. Undoubtedly, there would be much worse carnage there than in the Basilica.

"So, _Moonchaser, _where do we go?" I cast a dark glance her way, and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, let's see. Do you want to sit around and complain about how your poor home world is destroyed, or do you want to go save the Spiral and get your revenge?" I glared pointedly at her. "Fine. Second option, then. We go down to the portals, obviously. You want the one to the third tier; that's the closest to the dungeons."

"Dungeons?"

"You _do _want to reach him undetected, don't you? Malistaire doesn't go into the dungeons. That was my job. I know all of the secret ways in, and all of the secret ways up. Get your butt moving if you want to get there sometime this year." She stalked down the ramp, and the rest of us followed her.


	52. Chapter 52: Pick an Entrance

_**A/N: **__xD How about that: two weeks, two new chapters! XD I skilled. Thanks to QuayJaquelinXeomaraZendaya for the review! I will fix that grammar thing as soon as I get a chance to. :)_

The portal in the lower Basilica brought us to the Dragonspyre Academy, the crown jewel of third-tier Dragonspyre. Only the strongest were permitted to attend the prestigious school of magic, but the remains of the place were less than exemplary, for sure. The destruction in the once-proud academy was nearly total; only the Fire School and its tree still stood.

"I guess that the Dragon Titan decided to spare his own school, huh?" I glanced over at Tristan. "So, exchange student, if this place was destroyed, how do you still attend school here?" A small frown crossed the Conjurer's face.

"The Forum. It wasn't too badly hit, and there are a lot of untouched buildings there; some were overtaken by the drakes or the Undead, but Professors Blackwing and Bloodhand placed wards on ten of the buildings to reserve them for our use."

"Ten?" Erica sounded curious. Tristan nodded.

"Ten. Seven for the schools of magic, one for strategy, one for weapon fighting, one for survival skills. Those are the three classes that Ravenwood doesn't teach, I'm guessing," he added, noting the look on Erica's face. She nodded.

"Interesting."

I mused over what the younger boy had told me. The Forum … that was where my house was. I'd lived there for eight years of my life. I had been raised there, orphaned there and abandoned there. The place had its good memories, true, but the bad ones poisoned whatever fondness I had for the right wing of Dragonspyre's famous third tier.

"Okay. So, the dungeon is inside the base of the Great Spyre," Moira informed us, flipping open her notebook to a map of Dragonspyre and pointing. "There's a secret entrance in the Crystal Grove, the main entrance is in the Academy, and there's one other way in that's in the Forum. The Crystal Grove entrance is the most dangerous to reach; there are spiders there that are bigger than your mount, Firesong, and their venom is three times more potent than that of a bloodbat."

"Bloodbats have _venom_?" Destiny asked in surprise. Heather nodded.

"It's s-s-so corrosive that it w-will dissolve your skin s-straight to the bone in l-less than four s-seconds," the Conjurer stuttered."Th-the only reason that the bloodbat s-spell doesn't kill anyone is th-that they d-don't have the ability t-t-to release the venom. It leaks out when they're dead."

"Oh." The Theurgist shivered.

"The only perk of going that way," Moira continued, "…is that the entrance in the Crystal Grove is only known to me, and so it would be the safest way- if we can get past the spiders alive. The entrance in the Academy would be the safest to get to, since there aren't any Undead here, but it's completely possible that there are guards at the door; in fact, I know that there are, since I put them there myself." The Necromancer seemed very proud of herself.

"What kind of guards?" I asked.

"Demons." She continued to look smug. "I summoned them from a completely different plane of existence, and they are entirely undefeatable. Not even Ambrose himself could kill one." I rolled my eyes.

"Trust a Necromancerto think of guards that are immortal," Sabrina scoffed.

"What's the third option?" I asked cautiously, shooting a glare at Sabrina. "I don't know if we can handle spiders, and we definitely can't handle _demons._"

"It requires one student from every school," she told me after a moment. "There's a big maze that you have to pass through, and then you have to cast a spell from every single school on an orb that's waiting at the gate."

"How'd _you _get in, then?" Evan raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I'm a kidnapper and a torturer, and there's a school filled with young, naive students that are easily drawn away by certain distractions. How do you think?" Moira's voice was dripping sarcasm.

"So _that's _who was behind the student kidnappings!" Tristan snapped. His eyes were blazing as he fixed the albino with an accusing stare. "Dozens of innocent novices, all of them with high potential and long lives ahead of them … and you killed them!"

"Correction: Kidnapped them," the Necromancer answered in a bored tone. "If you're lucky, they'll still be alive in the dungeons. That is assuming that Malistaire hasn't tossed them to the spiders, in which case _he _killed them, not me."

"Enough arguing!" I yelled. "We have one of every school type here except for Balance. Will it work if Erica casts a Balance spell, since it's her secondary school?" Moira shrugged.

"Probably, or if it doesn't work, you can _kindly ask _a Balance student from the Academy to give you a hand."

"Good. Lead the way."

"Wait … how do we know she won't lead us into a trap?" Ashley asked suspiciously. Moira threw her hands in the air and stormed a short distance off.

"I have a feeling that she won't, but if she does …" I fingered the handle of my cutlass. Ashley nodded.

-V-

Once we were inside the Forum, Moira showed us a way to a hidden path that ran behind the Academy.

"It's far from the streets, so the Undead shouldn't notice us," she informed me as we rode along the twisting path. It didn't take long for us to reach the location of the maze's entrance. I stared up at the small building in shock.

"_Here_?" The entrance to the maze was within my old house. Abandoned and broken down, the place seemed eerily familiar and hauntingly empty. The windows were filthy and clouded with age, but they were still entirely intact- including the curtains, surprisingly. I could still see the dragon emblems on the scarlet curtains- my father had always been quite the patriot- and the Dragonspyre flag flew high above the house, just above the flag bearing the Firesong family crest. "How long has this been the location of the entrance?!" Moira shrugged.

"I dunno. I found the maze about a year ago, and I fixed it up when Malistaire and I joined forces and turned the Great Spire into a dungeon. Why?"

"This is- was- my house," I said slowly. "This is the house that my father and I built with our own hands- there wasn't too much magic involved- and this is the house we lived in for just over a year. I was abandoned in this house, too. I left it when I was eight and somehow managed to make it to the Tower Archives. The librarian gave me directions to the Basilica, and some Thaumaturge helped me open the Spiral Door to Wizard City."

"Whoa … _this_ is where you lived?" Evan stared up at the simple stone building. "It's definitely not as complex as the other buildings in the Forum-"

"We didn't have much money or time to rebuild after the meteor shower, and there were only two people building it, one of whom was a seven year old girl. It wasn't meant to be fancy," I snapped, surprising even myself when I defended the house. Evan held up his hands in surrender and took a step back.

"I was only stating a fact," he replied quickly. I shot him one last glare before turning back to Moira.

"Well? Lead the way." I gestured to the door. She nodded and took a few steps forwards- then paused. "What is it?"

"I don't have the key," she admitted. "It's on my key ring, which is hanging in the prison right now. I'll have to try and break the door open-"

"No, you won't." Reluctantly, I reached into my backpack, rummaged around for a moment, and slowly drew out a small iron key on a chain. "I kept it when I left. I would have worn it as a necklace, but the iron disrupted my magic too much, and so I had to leave it off." I climbed the few stairs to the door and carefully slid the key into the lock. I turned it, and it clicked softly. The door swung open at my touch. "And there you have it." Moira nodded appreciatively as she stepped past me into the house. I started to follow her, and then, as a second thought, I removed the key from the lock and put it back into my backpack. Only then did I follow the other Necromancer.


	53. Chapter 53: Significance

_**A/N: **__Oops! I just realized that I COMPLETELY forgot the preview for the sequel at the end of chapter 52! O_o Sorry about that; there WILL be a preview at the end of this chapter, however. In fact, I'm putting it in before I write the actual chapter. XD As a side note, has anyone seen The Hobbit yet? May I just say, BEST MOVIE EVER. XD_

_Warning: This chapter is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG. I planned out the entire storyline from chapter 53 to the end (there will be exactly 60 chapters, I think) and I added more plot to this chapter than I originally thought._

_**In response to reviews …**_

_**NightSkyWolves: ?**_

_**QJXZ: **__Ashley Spellsword is a Thaumaturge O.C. from Flo. I definitely haven't used her as much as I probably should, so I'm going to try and focus on her a little more in these next few chapters._

_**Scarletfireblaze: **__Lol, the entire maze isn't in the house, just the entrance to it. XD Also, thank you very much for your review of chapter 52; that made my entire week. :)_

The house was eerily silent as Moira led us through the hallways and rooms. I could faintly see the photographs on the wall beneath nine years of dust and grime. I recognized every piece of furniture and each item in every single room. A vase of fire lilies still sat on the living room coffee table, although they'd long since wilted and lost their petals. A thick layer of dust coated everything, and the colors seemed a bit … washed out, almost. It was like the entire house had turned gray and lifeless.

"So, where's the entrance?" I asked the albino Necromancer.

"Basement," she replied shortly, heading for the kitchen.

"Hold on a second. There's something I want to see." Most of the group paused and waited, but Evan and Destiny came with me as I climbed the wide, once elegant stairs that were carefully crafted in a Dragonspyrian fashion. I let one finger trail in the dust on the wide banister, leaving a squiggly pattern of cleared red wood on the gray surface.

"Where are we going?" Destiny whispered as we reached the top of the staircase. Her voice sounded strangely out of place in the silent hall.

"My room," I replied over my shoulder. "I want to see if everything's like I left it, and if it is, there's something I need to get." My two friends were silent as I cautiously pushed open the last door on the right.

There wasn't an object out of place, not a single thing different from how it had been when the house was still inhabited. I saw my small, simple bed with the violet bedspread. The scarlet dragon emblem still contrasted heavily with the dark purple. A carved wooden dragon that had been painted gold hung just above the bed. I gently set my hand down on the comforter, remembering all the times that I had sat on this very bed and dreamed of Ravenwood. I slowly approached the wooden desk and blew the dust off the lamp. It still turned on. I had done my homework by the light of that lamp. I had read late into the night by the light of that lamp.

The bookshelf was still piled high with books, books filled with words and pictures that would take me to faraway lands, places that I could escape from the haunting silence of my house that was no different from the present. I could still read all of the titles, and I saw some of my very favorite childhood stories. Sitting on the nightstand was a doll. She wore a faded green dress, and her black yarn hair had long since come out of its neat braid. Her eyes were still blue, and her stitched, pale pink mouth still turned up in a merry smile.

"Christine," I murmured, picking up the doll. "I used to carry her with me everywhere. She was a gift from my mother when I was five. The day the house was destroyed … I had her in my backpack that day. She's the only thing I have left from that old house," I said, more for my own ears than those of my friends.

"What do you have to get, Alex? We'd better get going; there's no time to waste," Destiny gently told me.

"Well, I wasn't sure if she would be here, but thankfully she is." I brushed the dirt off of Christine's dress and tucked her into my backpack. "Christine is the only thing I have left of my mother, and so she's coming with me."

"You needed a _doll? _I mean, I can see how important it is to you, but couldn't it have waited until _after _we fight Malistaire?" Evan asked skeptically.

"There's no guarantee that we're coming back, and besides … maybe she'll bring us luck." I smirked as I turned and headed back downstairs. Moira was waiting by the door to the basement, which she held partially opened.

"Hurry up," she told us sourly, starting down the stairs. The other Necromancer led the group to the back left corner.

"There's nothing … here," Erica said slowly, giving the albino a strange look. Moira rolled her eyes and pressed her hand into the floor. A large section of the stone floor melted away, revealing a wooden trapdoor.

"Yes, of course, there's absolutely nothing here," she snapped, kicking the door open. "Let's get this over with." I followed her down three steep flights of stairs, which ended in a circular room filled with doors. The moment the last group member had stepped into the room, a wall appeared in front of the stairs.

"Well, there goes our way out," Ashley laughed nervously. "What do we do now?"

"Every one of these doors except for one will lead us into a trap."

"W-w-what kind of t-trap?" Heather asked. Moira shrugged.

"Oh, you know, fiery infernos, spikes that will shoot up from the floor and impale you, the occasional crushing wall, nothing too bad." I was slightly disturbed when I barely detected a trace of sarcasm in her voice. "I'm pretty sure I remember the trick to finding the right one-"

"_Pretty_ sure," Tristan muttered, but Moira shot him a glare.

"… However, to find it, I need _absolute silence, _which translates to 'shut your mouths.' Got it?" We all nodded, and the Necromancer approached the first door. She pressed her hand flat up against it, and then removed it as though she'd been burned. She raised her wand and drew the Death symbol on the door. "That one's out." She repeated the procedure with the other doors, eliminating three more.

Her next test was to knock hard on each door. I heard a loud _thump _as she tapped on four of them, and Moira added the Death symbol to those. Two doors remained. "This is the hardest one," she murmured, carefully inspecting first one door, then the other. She got down on her knees and peered under the first door. She nodded. "Other one." With a flourish, Moira flung open the second door, leaving a clear path.

"How'd you do that?" Ashley asked. "They all look the same!"

"The ones with fire behind them are hot. The crushing walls will close if you knock hard enough, and there are holes in the ground for spikes behind that other door." She grinned smugly at us.

"Let's just go already," I growled, drawing my cutlass and stalking into the passage.

We hurried through the twisting and turning hallway in silence. Moira was in the lead, and I was directly behind her. "What's next?" I called.

"A whole bunch of road forks right in a row," she replied over her shoulder. "If you go the wrong way, you'll activate a trap that will vaporize you in a second. The right order is left, right, right, left, left, right."

"I'm not gonna remember that!"

"Then it's a good thing you're not in front!" She laughed darkly. We arrived at the first fork. "Left." We took the left path. "Turn right up here," the albino called to the others." We followed her command again. The other Necromancer led us through the rest of the sharp turns, and we arrived in a circular room much like the first one.

"What do we do here?" Chelsea asked.

"This is the end of the road," Moira answered, walking in a wide circle around the room. "The orb is in the very center of this room." She walked in a slightly smaller circle.

"But … there's nothing here!" The Magus protested. Moira smirked.

"That's because we haven't found it yet." She made three more laps around the room, each one smaller than the last. Finally, she stopped in the middle of the room, drew her wand, and tapped the floor five times with it. Each tap echoed throughout the room, and after the final one, there was a loud screech as a hole opened in the floor. A small orb on a pedestal rose from the ground.

"And there you have it." Moira gestured to the orb. "One school at a time, starting with the Elemental Schools. Fire dude, you're first. Blondie, you go second … uh, can anyone else cast Storm?"

"Just Brooke and Donna," I hissed.

"I can cast Storm, too," Ashley informed us. "Want me to do that one as well as the Ice?"

"Nah. Glasses girl can do Ice and Balance, and _you_ can do Storm. After Storm is Myth, Life and Death … Stutterer can do the Myth, Brat can cast the Life spell and Firesong, you cast the Death." I glowered at her.

"We have _names, _you know."

"Well, seeing how I'm not a 'real' member of this group, no one saw fit to _tell _me these names," Moira shot back.

"And whose fault is it that you're not a real member? Mine or yours?" I spat.

"Will you both SHUT UP?" Ashley yelled, thrusting an arm between us. "No one cares if Moira uses our names or not, okay? Let's just get this over with and get out of here!" Moira and I were both silent as Evan stepped forwards to cast his spell.

"It doesn't have to be big; any Pyromancy spell will do," the albino girl muttered. My friend nodded as he drew his wand and selected a card. A Fire Cat sprang from the red card and breathed fire on the orb. The others went on to cast their own spells; on my turn, I cast a ghoul. When Erica's scarab was finished, the orb slowly creaked back into the ground. A gate appeared and swung open. "The dungeon is that way. You guys _might _want to see if there's anyone still alive in there; they'll want to be freed, and that's one way to spite Malistaire." I had a feeling that there were other motives behind Moira's words, but I didn't question them. I figured that I would find out soon enough.

-V-

The group split up when we reached the morbid dungeons. I was horrified as I walked along one of the numerous rows of cells. There were bloodstains in some and entire skeletons in others. In one or two, I saw a rotting corpse with eyes still wide in terror. Marks of torture were evident on their skin. I shivered, feeling a strange chill in the boiling hot dungeon.

A scream immediately drew my attention, and I hurried towards the source. Kestrel had backed up against the bars of a cell, staring in horror at the opposite cage.

"What is it?" I asked urgently, stepping towards her. She raised a shaky finger and pointed at the cage.

"That's … that was my old cage!" She whimpered, gripping the bars behind her tightly. "I was chained there and left without food for days! That one, the one next to it … it was Donna's. I killed her there." Her voice broke, and she began sobbing loudly. I hesitantly approached the cage. In the one Kestrel had indicated, there lay a thick, heavy chain. The stone that made up the back wall and the floor was covered in long scratch marks. I slowly turned my gaze to the cell on the left. There was hay scattered across the floor, and a few smaller scratches were carved into that wall. Scraps of red cloth were tossed here and there within the cell, and on the floor was something large, white and familiar: Donna's leg brace. I looked away, trying to keep myself from crying.

"It wasn't your fault," I told Kestrel quietly. "It was Moira's fault, and Malistaire's fault, but it wasn't yours. Don't blame yourself." I hurried on down the row of cells, wishing I could do more to help the other Necromancer but knowing that there was nothing more I could say.

-V-

I reached the end of the cell, and I was about to turn back when I heard a weak cough. I spun around, trying to determine where the sound had come from.

"Who's there?"

"Alexandra?" I hadn't heard that voice in nearly a year, but I recognized it immediately.

"D-Dad?" I took three steps towards the back cell and peered inside. An emaciated, bloodied figure lay inside on a pile of straw, dressed in tattered scarlet robes. He tried to sit up, but he failed.

"Alexandra. It's you," he sighed, sounding relieved. I slammed the blade of my cutlass into the lock, trying to pry it open. The lock snapped open, and I yanked open the door, rushed into the cell and knelt beside my father.

"I thought you were dead," I whispered, staring at his pale face in shock. He reached his thin, bony hand out and touched my face.

"You're really here. I've dreamed of you a thousand times, Alexandra, and you're finally real." He smiled faintly.

"Yeah … I'm here, Dad. I'm here to get you out. You're free."

"Thank you, Alex, but I don't …" his voice trailed off. "Is Miss Dragonflame here? I gave her a letter just before I went after Malistaire … I believe it's nearly time you read it."

"Donna … she's dead. I have the letter, though- at least, I think it's the letter. Brooke had it when she died." My father frowned.

"Miss Dragonflame and Miss Swiftriver are both dead, then? It's fitting, I suppose; they were never apart, and they did everything together. If Donna is dead, she would have passed the letter to her friend. It makes sense."

"Do you want me to read it now?" I pulled the letter from my backpack, but he shook his head.

"Not yet. Your friend was given instructions that you were not to read that letter without proof that I was dead. I think you'll be reading it very soon." He smiled sadly. My eyes widened.

"No, Dad, you're not gonna die! There are Theurgists here- Destiny! Sabrina! One of you, come here!" I called. "They'll heal you, Dad! You're gonna be fine now; you're free. Everything will be okay. We'll get you help, and then you can get out of this dungeon and go to a proper hospital … Wizard City! Someone can bring you there, and you'll be fine-" My father squeezed my hand, and I fell silent, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Alexandra." He paused. "I'm so sorry … you never deserved what I did to you. You deserved to make your own decision, and I should have been with you every step of the way. You should have had my support in everything you did. I was never … never there when I should have been. You've become a very strong girl, even without me, and I hope that you can forgive me someday. Now, read the letter, my daughter." He stared at me expectantly, and I realized that he was waiting for me to open it. Slowly, I removed the letter from the envelope and broke the seal. I noted that it wasn't the Pyromancy seal, but the Firesong family's. "Read it out loud," my father instructed. I nodded slowly.

"Dearest Alexandra: If you are reading this, than I am dead. I do not regret what I did when I entered the Death School in your place; you deserve life far more than I do. The things I have done to you make me deserve every punishment I could receive within that School. I was unable to give you the love and support you needed, and so now, with what may be my last minutes, I give you life. I would not have you die when I am able to take your place. Take my gift now, and use it to the fullest. Don't let anything I've said hold you back from following your destiny, for it has been laid down by the Titans for you to follow. No one can determine what his destiny is before it reaches him, but I know now, without a doubt, that you have a great destiny. Follow it, Alexandra, and go wherever the Titans would have you go. They will lead you somewhere fantastic; I know it. Good luck, and may you have my blessing-insignificant though it is- in everything you do. I love you. -Patrick Firesong."

I looked down as I felt my father's grip weaken on my hand. His eyes were closed, and a peaceful smile was on his face. I knew that he was dead, and I finally let my tears fall.

"I love you, Daddy."

_**A/N: **__What did you guys think of the scene with Kestrel and her old cell? I'm still debating whether I should have put that in or not … _

_As promised, here's the preview for The Journey of Fire's Song. :)_

_"You know, Sabrina, you've been acting pretty strange lately," I commented as I chose a card. My dueling opponent only frowned at me before selecting her own card. _

_"I've got a lot on my mind, that's all," she muttered. I raised an eyebrow._

_"Such as?"_

_"Moira said something back in Dragonspyre … she said that she knew how to free my mother." _


	54. Chapter 54: The Great Spire

The sound of hurried footsteps grew louder, and then they paused abruptly just outside my father's cell.

"Oh, Titans …" Destiny's soft voice reached my ears. "Alexandra … is that-"

"It's my father," I whispered. "He's dead."

"I'm … I'm so sorry." I heard as my best friend shifted uncomfortably, but she didn't speak again. I stared blankly at my dad's body, gripping his hand with all my strength as if trying to hold on to his memory. What few tears I had left rolled down my cheeks.

"What's the point?" I asked in a low voice.

"Of what?"

"This! All of this! Why are we doing this? We're not accomplishing anything, Destiny! More people are going to get hurt if we keep going!"

"Hey, don't you start with that attitude!" She snapped, striding into the cell and kneeling beside me. "Look at me, Alexandra Firesong." When I didn't move, the Theurgist grabbed my shoulder and wrenched me around so I was facing her. "You knew going into this that it would be dangerous, didn't you?" I shrugged.

"I guess, but-"

"No! No buts! I'm not finished! This is a dangerous place, Alex! People were bound to get hurt on this quest, but it's not as though you dragged us here, kicking and screaming! Everyone in this group is here because _we want to be here, _and we willingly volunteered our lives to help you stop Malistaire. Now, don't start talking about how more people are going to die and get hurt if we go on! It's true, we _are _going to get hurt, but a heck of a lot _more _people are gonna get hurt if Malistaire accomplishes his goal!" I was silent. I glanced back at my father's body.

"He wasn't a part of this quest."

"But he chose to take your place. He chose to save you rather than save himself," Destiny told me, more gently this time. "In the end, he tried to make up for his mistakes. He only wanted your forgiveness, Alex, but you gave him more. You told him that you loved him, and that made it worth it in the end."

"How do you know?" I asked quietly. "What if he's up in the Titan world right now, looking down on me and wishing he'd stayed alive and I had died?"

"Because no one would die for an act, Alex. He really did love you; otherwise, he would have had no reason to save your life." She smiled sadly at me. "So, what's next? Are you going to sit here and mourn your father, or are you going to go save someone else's life? Malistaire has to be stopped, and we aren't gonna leave without you." She stood and held out a hand to me. "Coming?" Slowly, slowly, I reached up and took her hand. I stood.

"You're right. Thanks, Destiny." I gave her a small, wobbly smile as I headed out of the cell. I glanced back at my dad's body once more before I continued down the hallway.

-V-

Despite my best friend's reassuring words, I felt as though the entire weight of the world was pressing down on my shoulders at that moment. An overwhelming sense of tiredness settled over me, and I had the urge to simply sit down and not move again. I wanted to be back in my home nine years ago. I wanted to go back to the days where my mother would tell me stories until I got sleepy and then sing a lullaby as she left and closed the door. I wanted to relive the times when I didn't have a single worry in the world, when I could feel safe and happy all the time. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option, and so I kept going.

The group was waiting for me in front of a narrow staircase. Moira was leaning up against the wall. She frowned as I stepped into view.

"You certainly took long enough," she scoffed.

"Moira …" Destiny's tone was warning, and as I glanced over at her, I saw as she shook her head slightly at the other Necromancer.

"Whatever. Let's get going. The next part of our lovely little tour is the trek to the top of the Great Spire. This section boasts hordes of Undead- yes, Glasses Girl, hordes- so please stick to the paths, and remember: no flash photography!" Her tone was dripping with sarcasm, but I couldn't think of a nasty reply at the moment, so I settled for a halfhearted glare.

"Lady Moira, what's going on?" A quiet, masculine voice asked. The albino girl glanced towards the source: a pale boy with pure white hair, dressed simply in loose white robes. He looked around at my friends and I. His face seemed somewhat familiar …

"Y-you!" Heather gasped, pointing to the boy with a shaky hand. "You w-were in the alley in M-marleybone!" The boy frowned slightly, and he nodded.

"I was. You must be Alexandra Firesong-" he glanced at me, "-and her friends." His pale blue eyes passed over each of my friends.

"Yeah … we are. Who are you?" Evan asked suspiciously.

"Arthas-" he was cut off by a look from Moira.

"Arthas …" The Pyromancer waited for him to continue.

"Just Arthas," he said firmly.

"Ah. So … what's he doing here?" Evan asked, turning to Moira.

"You can trust him." The other Necromancer refused to say another word on the subject.

-V-

The interior of the Great Spire was solid red rock, and I was fairly certain that there was little to no air circulation. It had to be around ninety degrees or higher. Torches provided the only light, so the wide cavern was dim as well as smoky. Gruesome images of battles decorated the walls, and the floor had what looked like bones fitted into the cracks. As Moira had warned, there were dozens of Undead- maybe even hundreds. Ghouls and skeletons and specters roamed the pathways freely, and occasionally a ghost or a wraith would drift through the wall and startle us. The strange part was that none of them attacked us.

"Moira," I hissed. "Why aren't the Undead fighting? We're walking straight into their territory!"

"They wouldn't dare attack me. I was the one who raised most of them from the dead," she replied dismissively. I stared at her.

"You _raised_ them, and you say that like it's nothing! Doing something like resurrection is … it's … that kind of Necromancy is so advanced that I don't think _Malistaire _could do it!"

"You'd be surprised how easy it is if you've got the right teacher." We continued in silence through the caverns of the Great Spire. The moans and shrieks of the Undead echoed in the high-roofed tunnels, and I could sense the uneasiness they were bringing to the rest of the group. Even with my years of experience in dealing with Undead, I had never heard anything quite like what I heard in the Great Spire.

"Are we nearly out?" Heather whispered to me. I glanced over at her and realized that the Conjurer was absolutely terrified. She ducked as a ghost sailed past us, and then stared at me fearfully.

"Yeah. The last staircase is right ahead. The drakes are kept in a pen at the top, and we'll ride them to the Crown of Fire," Moira informed us.

"Wait … we have to ride _drakes_?" Heather seemed on the verge of passing out from fear. "I thought they killed people!"

"Just the weak ones. Once they're trained, drakes are perfect for giving rides to the Crown of Fire. I mean, if you want to try riding your little pony across a river of hot magma, feel free," the Necromancer added sarcastically, "…although I wouldn't suggest it. Hot magma is … you know … _hot_." She stalked ahead to the wide staircase.

_**A/N: **__Thanks to anyone who reviewed the last chapter! :)____Here's the next preview for The Journey of Fire's Song. :) Note: This preview is not directly after the last one. It is a completely separate piece of the story._

_I began choking on my water, and I quickly spat it back into the glass. _

_"He asked you WHAT?" My friend beamed._

_"Isn't it so sweet?"_

_"No, it's not sweet! That's disgusting! How could you trust that pig?"_

_"Come on, Alex, don't be like that! How many times do I need to tell you that he's changed?" I frowned._

_"Somehow, I highly doubt that."_


	55. Chapter 55: Of Drakes and Doors

_**A/N: **__Thanks for all the reviews! :) Just so you're all aware, I will __**NOT **__be updating next week. Midterms are a pain to study for, but it's got to get done- luckily, I have almost a full week off afterwards, so I might even get in TWO updates that week … ;) If all goes as planned, the last update will be the week of February 11__th__. _

_**Disclaimer: Wow, I haven't done one of these in forever! Well, fear not, KingsIsle, I haven't decided to commandeer your game. XD I don't claim ownership of Wizard101. I also do not own any of Tolkien's languages, several of which are used in this chapter.**_

The drake stables were hot and musty. A smell of rotting flesh hung in the stale, stagnant air. I could hear the rustling of the drakes as they moved around in their stalls. One rammed its head against the door of its stall, and Heather jumped away from it.

"There are twenty drakes here; pick one and stand in front of its stall. I'll tell you guys how to harness them," Moira instructed us, heading for the back of the stable.

"D-do you have any that w-w-won't try to k-kill me?" Heather whispered.

"The twins are the nicest," the albino girl called over her shoulder. "Russa or Pika. Their names are on signs over each stall. Oh, and don't pick Saeweth. She spits poison." The Conjurer was visibly shaken.

I ended up choosing a black drake whose name sign said "Moroch." The drake eyed me suspiciously through the cracks in the door, and it snorted smoke.

"Moroch, huh? Why am I not surprised?" Moira scoffed as she noticed my choice. The other Necromancer handed me an iron face mask about the size of a drake head. "Put that on his head. The large holes go around his horns, and the smaller ones are for his eyes."

"Why do they need face masks?" I asked warily.

"Their scales are thinner on their faces, so they need protection from the lava." She moved on to Evan. "Okay, you picked Finn? I'll go get his mask."

-V-

A few minutes later, the twelve of us were assembled in a wide yard behind the stable, each of us seated in the saddle of our drake. I noticed that most were various shades of red or gold, with the exception of my drake, Moira's drake (who was also black) and Arthas's, who was pure white.

"These drakes were specially trained, so once you get them off the ground, they know what to do," the albino informed us. "All you have to do is tell them to take off. Arthas, you go first to demonstrate."

"_Drego," _the boy called to his drake, who took a step forwards, flapped its large wings and took to the air.

"Say that word and hold on _tightly, _unless you want to fall into the lava," Moira called. "Don't get off your drake until it has landed, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Enjoy the ride." I wasn't entirely sure whether her last comment was sarcastic or not.

-V-

Moroch landed roughly on a large, circular section of stone. A set of wide stairs led from the circle piece to a long walkway, and a pair of dragon-head statues guarded the enormous archway in the distance. I could see the other drakes flying in circles overhead, and their riders were waiting for me at the foot of the stairs. I clumsily dismounted Moroch and nearly tripped as I stepped back on to solid ground. The black drake took to the air and joined his companions in the sky.

I stumbled down the stairs, still unsteady after nearly fifteen minutes flying over a river of hot lava on a drake, which, as I found out, was absolutely nothing like riding a dragon mount. I could hear a few snickers as I approached the rest of the group, and I gave them a tired frown.

"Are we waiting for anyone else?" I asked.

"Just Moira."

"Great." I leaned up against a pillar, although I didn't have to wait long. Just seconds later, I heard the call of a drake and saw the black shape of Moira's mount coming in for a landing. Her drake landed smoothly, and the albino dismounted as though she'd been doing it for years. She didn't seem to have any sort of seasickness (like Heather clearly did) or unsteadiness (like I did). I remembered that she'd been working with Malistaire for almost a year by that point, so she'd clearly gotten some practice in. I suddenly realized that if we'd been on the quest for ten months (I was guessing) my birthday would be coming up in just a few days- if it hadn't already passed.

"Straight through that arch," Moira said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "The entrance to the Crown is in there." I nodded to show that I'd heard and started down the walkway.

I could see a pair of glowing figures on either side of the arch way, and as the group got closer, I realized that they were ghostly knights. They bowed silently to us as we passed. "Spirit guards. They were once champions or monks of the Dragon Titan who chose to guard him even in death."

"Creepy."

"Yeah, you could say that." Once we passed through the arch, we entered a large, circular room with a ceiling open to the sky. Most of the walls had crumbled from age, leaving just the thick stone pillars to line the area. Spirit guards stood in pairs all around the circle. They held their swords point up as we passed, saluting our bravery- or perhaps our foolishness. The twelve of us stood in a line, walking slowly towards the door at the opposite end of the room. It was the biggest door I had ever seen in my life: well over 50 feet high and made of impenetrable purple stone. A twisting red dragon had been painted on the door. Enormous columns framed it, and over it hung a massive Dragonspyre battle standard. A large brazier burned on each side of the door. Beside the braziers knelt two figures: one shrouded in a hooded black cloak, and the other dressed in fiery red. They looked up as we approached, revealing two women with nearly identical faces and long, curly black hair. Heather gasped as she stared at the woman in red.

"Y-you … I know you! You're that d-dancer who sent me t-to Ravenwood!" The woman grinned impishly at her before glancing towards me.

"For nearly a year we have guarded this door, and yet no one has come. Why, then, do you come now?" The hooded female's voice was hollow, and her glare was so cold it could have frozen me where I stood.

"My name is Alexandra, and these are my friends and allies. We're here to stop Malistaire. May we pass?" The woman raised an eyebrow.

"I do not see warriors. I see a rather shabby, mismatched band of schoolchildren. Do you really believe that you have power enough to defeat this threat, one of the most powerful Necromancers in the Spiral? You're fools, each and every one of you."

"Do you have _any _idea how hard we've worked to get here?" Sabrina exploded, waving her wand in the hooded woman's face. "We're Legendaries- well, except for Tristan and Chelsea, but that's beside the point! We're MORE than able to kill Malistaire!"

"You call us mismatched, but every member of this group is here because they're wanted," Evan added. "For nearly a year, we've worked together nearly as a family. We are better matched than most groups could ever hope to be."

"Oh, so you think so?" The hooded woman retorted, but the other woman cut her off.

"Relax, Ravina. I think they know what they're doing." She winked at us. "They've suffered quite a lot these past months, haven't they: losing friends, losing family, losing hope." Her piercing stare turned first to Evan, then to me, and finally to Heather. "You're all tired and angry- also sad. This will be your final battle, but whether you come out alive or not- well, that's to be determined. We will aide you in any way we can."

"Unfortunately, if we so much as set foot beyond the threshold of that door, the entire Crown may come down around our feet. Since we would prefer that you all return in one piece, we'll have to remain where we are. We can, however, give you advice," Ravina informed us.

"Don't rush blindly into battle without analyzing it first," the woman in scarlet began. "Make sure you play your cards carefully and wisely; one wrong move could leave you all dead. Attack hard and fast if that is how you are used to dueling, but do not underestimate the power of a blade or a trap. Finally, _know where your skills lie. _Don't try anything that you aren't already an expert at, because you've got a fifty percent chance of failing miserably, causing you and your teammates to crash and burn." She went silent, and Ravina spoke again.

"Stay true to your friends, and remember where your allegiance lies. You will face very difficult challenges beyond that door, both physical and mental, but remember what the fate of the Spiral will be if you are to fail. Do what is best for the Spiral. Good luck to all of you, and I sincerely hope that the Titans will bring you all back safely."

The two women stood and faced each other. They held out their hands, forming spheres of silver light, which they hurled towards the door. The spheres shattered the enormous lock on the door. As the red-garbed woman lowered her right hand, I noticed a scar running from her pointer finger to her wrist …

"You're Ravina Blackwing and Fyrina Bloodhand, aren't you?" I asked slowly. Fyrina nodded, grinning as she held out her right hand, showing off the scar. Ravina did likewise with her left hand, revealing a tattoo of crossed swords on the back of her hand. "Thanks for the help. We won't forget it." I approached the huge door, leaving the sisters to kneel by the braziers once more, still guarding the Crown of Fire.

As my friends joined me in front of the door, Destiny took my hand and squeezed it nervously. Ashley and Heather also joined hands, and the rest of my group soon followed their lead. Moira stood off to the side a bit, trying hard to look indifferent as she stared at the circle my friends and I had made. Arthas cautiously took her left hand, and I could have sworn I almost saw her smile. I hesitated for a moment longer, and then let go of Erica's hand. Slowly, I held mine out to Moira. I wasn't ready to forgive her yet, but she had proven that she was just as much a part of the group as anyone else. With our circle complete, I nodded slowly.

"Let's go." We might not have started out as a group of friends, but one way or another, that was how it was going to end.

_**A/N: **__Here is your third preview for "The Journey of Fire's Song"! :D_

_"Hello, Headmaster. You said you had to talk to me?" I quietly shut the door of the office behind me. Headmaster Ambrose held up a hand to me as he spoke with a group of three novices._

_"…and you've done an excellent job so far! Ceren Nightchant has spoken very well of your deeds, young wizards. Thank you for the report on the ghosts' movements; if you could, please return in an hour and I will have notices for you to post in Unicorn Way." _

_"Thank you, Headmaster!" The novices chorused, hurrying out of the warm, cheerful room. The elderly man pulled a manila folder from a desk drawer and turned to face me._

_"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Alexandra. Unfortunately, I have nothing for you about your other project yet, although I am searching. The Library staff is also looking through their records for anything to aid you, and I believe that Mr. Argleston has sent out notices to his fellow librarians in other worlds. Now, this is a report from one of our scouts in Dragonspyre." On the envelope, I saw a very familiar symbol painted in red. _


	56. Chapter 56: The Crown of Fire

_**A/N: **__Only three chapters after this one! :D Can you believe it? Thanks to scarletfireblaze, NightSkyWolves, QuayJaquelinXeomaraZendaya and Guest for reviewing! :) _

_**In response …**_

_**Scarletfireblaze: **__Thanks for the idea! If I decide to rewrite chapter 56 (I probably will at some point) I will be sure to include that scene. :)_

_**Guest: **__Nope. _

_**Quay: **__XD YES. XD _

The fiery inferno that greeted us made the rest of Dragonspyre look like a kiddie playground. It seemed like there was no way we could die- because Hell had already come to us. The glowing red walls were laced with black streaks, clear evidence of smoke and fire. Pictures- if they could even be called pictures- depicting horrific tortures covered a few of the larger walls, hastily painted images in black and purple. The pathway had been formed of bubbling, oozing, smelly black tar that had been covered in bones- and sometimes there was flesh left on the bones. I nearly gagged as I saw half a head embedded in the ground. Heather was worse off; she actually swooned before Chelsea caught her. The younger Magus helped the Conjurer onto her horse, and Tristan tied a piece of thin cloth over her face.

"It helps with the sight and smell of it," he informed Heather, who gave him a shaky nod in thanks. I looked over the edge of the cliff, wincing as I saw the steep drop down. If any one of us was to fall, we'd fall hundreds of feet before landing either in the river of hot lava or on the sharp, craggy rocks that made up the riverbank. The thick clouds of steam and smoke that billowed up from the lava didn't help my vision any, and so I kept one hand pressed flat against the wall as I walked, taking care not to step too far to the left.

"It's safer up ahead, once we get a little higher!" Moira had to yell to be heard over the rumbling of the volcano.

"Are you sure?" I called back.

"Positive! Just keep going and we'll be there in a few minutes!" I was skeptical of her insistence, but she'd led us this far without any problems …

Surprisingly, Moira had been correct. The higher we got, the clearer the air became. The walkway got wider as we progressed, and there was less tar and more of the original stone floor. The twelve of us regrouped when we reached a large, open circular area.

"So, how do we get from here to where Malistaire is?" Evan asked. Moira closed her eyes as though she was deep in thought.

"There are two demons that guard the portal," she finally said. "There are three crystals that activate the portal, which will then take us to the very top of the mountain. They're easy enough to activate; it's the demons that will be the problem. They're not the same kind of demons as the ones guarding the dungeon entrance in Dragonspyre Academy, thankfully; they come from our plane of existence, and so they can be killed by us. They're two of the more powerful demons from this plane, though. Ever heard of the Gurtok Brothers?" I shook my head.

"No … no, you're joking." Erica's face had gone ashy white at the mention of the Gurtok Brothers.

"Nope. No joke. Care to explain to your friends?"

"The Gurtok Brothers were once constellations. They fell from the sky during the War of the Titans. They were summoned by the Ice Titan and the Fire Titan, and they were pitted against each other to determine who should rule the sky. Their duel supposedly never ended, and when the Titans tried to pry them apart … they were nearly destroyed. The Gurtok Brothers have a kind of strength that is unmatched in the Spiral. If we have to fight them, there's a chance that not one of us will make it out alive." Moira scoffed.

"They're not THAT tough. Ravina made me duel the Fire Gurtok to prove my worth when I was almost a grandmaster. Apparently you've never heard the rest of the story; when the world split, the Gurtoks were thrown onto separate pieces of land. These demons are only shades that were created using the essence of the original Gurtoks."

"What happens after we defeat the Gurtoks?" I interrupted.

"Activate the three crystals and open the portal. I'll explain the rest once we're at the top of the Great Spire. Which ones of you can use Ice magic?"

"Erica, Alexandra and I can," Ashley supplied.

"I know up to blizzard," Chelsea added.

"Good. You four will fight the Fire Gurtok. Who knows Fire?" Evan and Sabrina were the only two. "Well, that sucks … Heather and Destiny, go with them. Kestrel, Arthas, you'll help me get to the crystals. Tristan … go with Arthas," she decided. "Whoever's fighting the Ice Gurtok, take the ramp to the left. If you're fighting the Fire Gurtok, go right. Arthas, Kestrel, you know where the two closer crystals are. I'll get the last one." Our group split up. I followed Erica to the right.

Standing on a raised circle pedestal was a massive copper elephant. The Fire Gurtok demon was dressed in scarlet armor that shone like fire, and in his hand was a massive broadsword. Three firebirds flew in a circle around him. His face crinkled into a distorted smile as we approached. I slowly drew my cutlass.

"The puny fools have decided to challenge us," he laughed, allowing one of the birds to land on his shoulder and stroked it with his trunk. "Very well. If they wish to die early, let them come forth!" He took one step forwards, and the colors of a dueling circle spread from under his foot. The massive Gurtok took his place in the first space, and his three firebirds followed him. Erica, Ashley, Chelsea and I entered the circle, and I immediately whispered a plan to the other three.

"Erica, you should cast your strongest Ice spell on the Gurtok, and the rest of us can cast blizzard to kill the birds."

"All right … I've got Wooly Mammoth up now. Want me to cast it?"

"Not yet. Wait until someone plays Balefrost." Ashley obliged immediately, and cool air washed over us as the dome of Ice magic formed around the circle. I waited until I had the pips, and then I cast my blizzard. Ashley and Chelsea did the same, and Erica finished with her Mammoth. The Gurtok barely had time to snarl a curse at us before he faded into nothing.

"What now?"

"We wait for Moira. She said that she'd let us know when the portal's ready. We need to get back to the original meeting point." The four of us returned to where the other group was waiting.

"Moira and the others have already activated two crystals. We're just waiting on the last one," Evan informed me. I nodded.

"Good. Hey, there's Kestrel and Arthas."

-V-

When the final crystal was activated, we knew it. There was a flash of light as three magic beams collided. From the collision point a fourth, thicker beam descended, hitting a large reflective disc. The disc shimmered with magical light. Moira came sprinting towards us from the back of the large cavern.

"Jump into that portal," she called to us. "Don't go anywhere once you're inside; just wait where you end up." I gave the albino girl a thumbs up and headed down to the portal. I hesitantly touched its smooth surface, and then stepped into it. The mirror rippled like water and sucked me through it.

When I emerged from the portal, I could see a massive door. The door's surface glistened with a grayish magic, which was streaming into the door from two large domes made of the same gray magic. I could see shapes moving silently beneath the domes, but I couldn't make out what they were.

"M-moira, w-what are _those?_" Heather asked, pointing at one of the domes. The other Necromancer frowned.

"Specters. Specifically, they're called 'Soul Servants.' Malistaire … well, he made a deal with these creatures. They are to serve him as long as he lives. They were fed bits of his soul- lost dreams, unwanted memories, things like that- and from those things, they become bound to him. They don't think or feel anything, but if their master is in trouble, they are relentless in their attack. Soul Servants make the perfect soldiers."

"How'd you get in, then?"

"I waited out here until Malistaire decided to let me in." She shrugged. "Come on. They're death, and there are four per dome. We have to kill all eight in order to break the magic lock and open the door. There are three Theurgists, right?" Sabrina, Chelsea and Destiny nodded.

"I was also trained in Life magic, Lady Moira," Arthas told her softly. She grinned.

"Perfect. Two Theurgists per duel; put the Magus with the strongest Theurgist. Destiny, Chelsea, Heather and Evan, go left. Sabrina, Arthas, Ashley and Erica, go to the right. The rest of us will wait here."

The two groups dispatched the Soul Servants quickly, for such "powerful" soldiers.

"Oh, yes, real relentless," I muttered dryly to Moira. She frowned.

"They weren't made to withstand the strength of three or four Legendaries, half of them Theurgists." I was about to respond, but I was cut off by the sound of the door slowly creaking open. Beyond them, I could see Malistiare. He held a massive book and his staff, and he was pacing back and forth. In front of him was a massive scaly wall … just then, the wall _moved. _It wasn't a wall; it was an enormous eye.

"He's trying to wake the dragon Titan!" I gasped, running towards him. I heard Moira calling to me, but I ignored her. I came to a stop just behind my former father.

"Malistaire?" He didn't reply. "Malistaire, look at me! Turn around and look me in the eye!" I yelled. The man didn't move. I tried to take a step forward- and suddenly found myself flying backwards. I landed hard on the ground. I touched my head, wincing when I felt blood.

"I was trying to tell you that there's another magic ward around him!" Moira snapped, hauling me to my feet. "There are four Ice drakes to defeat this time; the four that fought the Fire Gurtok are already taking care of it."

"I'm fighting him," I hissed. "I don't care what School he is or what School I am. I am going to fight him."

"Fine. Whatever." She rolled her eyes. "I suggest you pick your team quickly; we'll have to move quickly to stop him from blowing this whole place sky-high." I nodded.

"I'll be ready." Moira grinned.

"You know, Firesong … I hate to say it, but you're not too bad- when we're on the same side, that is."

"Yeah? Well, don't get used to it," I grumbled. "I won't be so nice once this whole thing's over and I've got nothing to throw my anger at- like, you know, Malistaire and his fancy magical ward." The albino girl laughed loudly.

"I don't doubt it for a second."

_**A/N: **__I have decided that the O.C. files will be deleted, for two reasons: One, it's a pain in the butt to rewrite them, and two, the acknowledgements are taking up a LOT more space than I originally thought. Therefore, if I want to have an even 60 chapters, the files have to go. Here is the next preview. _

_"Well, this certainly sounds pleasant," Luke said dryly, tapping a page of the thick book he held. "Listen to this: 'The ancient Celestians had a special affinity for violent battles, which were held as entertainment in peacetimes. The great leaders would sometimes start wars with one another for the sole purpose of entertaining themselves, and many of the battles would take place right in the main courtyards of palaces-directly below the royal family's bedroom window, where they could safely view the show.'" He set down the book._

_"Weren't they just the sweetest apples in the basket," I remarked sarcastically, looking through a slightly smaller book on Celestial magic. _


	57. Chapter 57: Malistaire

_**A/N: **__Two more chapters, and counting … In response to reviews:_

_**Guest: **__More what? More chapters? Well, there are going to be 59 actual chapters in The Destiny of Fire's Song. The 60__th__ chapter is just acknowledgements. There is going to be a sequel to this story called The Journey of Fire's Song, which will be published in a few weeks. (Maybe four.)_

_**NightSkyWolves: **__Thank you! :)_

_**LexiLopezi: **__You are exactly right. In fact, that's where I got the idea for it. In Celestia, a lot of the actual inhabitants (not the Marleybonian researchers) have Roman/Latin names. There are also enemies with titles like "Piscean Gladiators" and "Piscean Centurions" so I figured that Celestia and its fall from greatness were inspired by ancient Rome. I'm using that idea in the sequel. _

The moment the four Ice drakes were dead, the magical ward shattered into thousands of pieces. Malistaire turned his head towards us slightly, but he didn't react otherwise.

"Malistaire Drake! You've got to stop this!" I yelled.

"It is too late to stop! My Sylvia will return to me; you cannot keep us apart, foolish girl," he snarled, glaring at me. I could see the emptiness in his eyes as he stared at me.

"The broken dreams … the unwanted memories …" Suddenly, the pieces were coming together in my mind, forming a puzzle that I'd rather not see when finished. "You fed your memories of _me _to the Soul Servants," I realized.

"I do not know you, but if you challenge me, you will be destroyed," the Death Professor growled. I stared at him in disbelief.

"You took care of me when I wasn't wanted by anyone else … you fed and clothed me, you brought me to Ravenwood and taught me how to use my magical powers … I used to call you 'Daddy.' How could you have given all of those memories up? Is that what Sylvia wanted? What do you think she's going to say when she comes back and sees what you've done?" I suddenly felt the urge to throw my cutlass across the room, collapse in a heap and cry until I had no more tears left. Had the situation been different, had I been safe, I would have done so without hesitation- but Donna's memory, and Brooke's … and Sylvia, my parents, all the people dead because of Malistaire, those memories kept me standing.

"Do not speak to me of what Sylvia would want! You know nothing! Absolutely NOTHING!" He roared, raising his wand. I stared evenly at him, confidently, even- but I knew in my heart that there was nothing I could do to stop this man. He was a million times more powerful than I was. Whatever magic he used would kill me, and I was more than ready to let him. A globe of dark energy formed around the top of Malistaire's staff, and I closed my eyes. I could faintly hear screaming- maybe it was my friends, or maybe it was just my imagination. Suddenly, there was a much sharper yell of pain, and it was much, much closer. I opened my eyes. Moira Moonchaser lay on the ground in front of me.

"Moira! Why did you do that, you idiot?!" I hissed, crouching beside her. She opened one eyelid partway.

"Why did I do it … such a cliché question, Firesong. Why would I, the villain, allow my own life to be taken in exchange for the hero's life?" She chuckled weakly. "That's a question that I think you know the answer to." I shook my head.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You have a life, Alexandra Firesong. You have friends … you have people who will stand by your side until they die. You have respect. I have _no one. _I have _nothing." _ She leaned forwards slightly. "Kick his ass for me, will you?" She grinned weakly, and her head fell backwards. I hesitantly pressed two fingers to the pressure point beneath her jaw. There was nothing. Slowly, slowly, I raised my head to stare at Malistaire, who was frowning at his book. I stood.

"Malistaire Drake." He looked over at me, glaring once more.

"I failed to kill you once, did I? No matter, you'll die once the Titan rises."

"I may have called you 'Daddy,' and you may have considered me your daughter once, but now, Malistaire Drake, I am going to kill you." I unsheathed my sword and pointed it at his heart. "Evan, Destiny, Erica, come with me." I drove the point of my cutlass into the ground. The dueling circle appeared beneath it, and Malistaire laughed bitterly.

"You will not defeat me in a magical duel, you foolish Necromancer! I will crush you and your friends like ants."

"See, that's where you always were wrong, Malistaire. You never believed in the power of friendship and the strength in numbers. With all of us together, _we will destroy you_." The four of us stepped into the dueling circle.

"Alexandra, what's the plan?" Erica asked. I glanced over at her.

"We kill him. I don't care how we do it. We just kill him."

"So … do you want us to cast our largest spells on him?"

"Yeah. Throw everything you've got at him, and only use traps or blades if you have access to them immediately." They most certainly did. Erica played a Wooly Mammoth, and Destiny used a Forest Lord, both in the same round. Evan cast an Efreet the next round, and I simply waited, looking through my deck for the card that I wanted. I used a death blade and a death trap, but I didn't attack.

"Alexandra, what are you waiting for?" Evan hissed. "Kill him!"

"I'm looking for something specific," I snapped back. The card I wanted came up the next round, and I grinned triumphantly, showing it to the Pyromancer next to me. "Death prism. He's dead for sure." I used the spell, and one round later, I cast my attack: Wraith. "Hey, Malistaire, there's someone I'd like you to meet," I began as the card activated. "His name is Nightshade, and you made me kill him." The wraith sucked the last of Malistaire's health out of his body and transferred it to me. The former Death Professor fell to his knees as the dueling circle disappeared. I could see that he was still breathing, but it was labored, and I knew that he wouldn't live much longer. I gripped the handle of my sword tighter and slowly approached him. "You killed Donna. You killed Brooke. You killed my father, and you killed Moira Moonchaser. Now it is your turn to die," I said in a dull tone, raising my sword to strike. Before I did, though, Malistaire looked up at me. The deadness from his gaze was gone; I knew that something inside him had changed.

"Alex," he whispered, dropping his staff and letting it roll across the floor. "I'm so sorry … what I did was unforgivable." I bit my lip and gripped my sword harder. I had to do it. I had to end this, had to kill him. But as I stared into his sad dark eyes, I knew that I couldn't. I dropped the sword and collapsed in front of him, shaking my head and sobbing.

"I can't do it. I can't do it, Malistaire! Why? Why can't I kill you? I've wanted to for so long … you deserve to die …" I whispered, staring down at my filthy, ash covered and bloody hands. I heard approaching footsteps, and I looked up to see Arthas standing beside me. He was staring down at the broken family in front of him, shaking- in rage? In sadness? I couldn't tell. Suddenly, he raised his hand, in which he clutched an athame. Before I could react, he brought it down into Malistaire's throat.

"That's for Moira," he choked, stumbling backwards. The former Death Professor gasped once, and then he died.

_**A/N: **__Enjoy the next preview of "The Journey of Fire's Song"! It's definitely much shorter than the others, but I'll make up for it with a longer preview in the next chapter. ;)_

_She was waking. The pain in her head was overwhelming, and she could barely see straight. She couldn't sit up. She couldn't speak. She was having trouble breathing- but she was waking. _


	58. Chapter 58: Pain

_**A/N: **__We're almost to the end! XD Only one more chapter after this, which will be up in [hopefully] a few days- provided I have enough motivation and not too much homework, that is. Thanks to those of you who reviewed! :D In response …_

_**NightSkyWolves: **__xD I'm glad you enjoyed it! I must admit, you totally called the fact that someone was going to die … _

_**Galactica Z. Stellar: **__:D Well, any review is appreciated, no matter how late in the story it comes. XD The sequel will involve most (if not all) of the Morganthe arc. I'm glad you like the story so far, and I am definitely working on writing longer chapters. When I go back and rewrite the chapters that need to be redone, they will all be longer. :)_

_**Lexi Lopezi: **__XD_

_**DeathySophia: **__Indeed, you are correct. The death was last chapter, and here is le emotion. X) You are absolutely right about it being rushed; I will have to go back and fix that eventually. I didn't mean to imply that Malistaire didn't __**retaliate, **__per say, but I was attempting to cut the fight short. Thanks for pointing that out, and I will be sure to fix that as soon as I get a chance. :)_

It was over. The quest was done, and the Dragon Titan was asleep once more. Dragonspyre was safe- at least, as safe as we could make it at the moment- and Malistaire's plan was stopped. I should have been overjoyed, and yet … there was an emptiness in my heart. I felt hollow and tired. I wanted to rest- but unfortunately for me, I was standing in the middle of a destroyed Dragonspyre temple, staring at two dead bodies.

"Neither of you needed to die," I whispered. I thought to myself, _what if things had been different? If Sylvia had never died, Malistaire would never have attempted this. He would still be alive right now. _I wasn't entirely sure about Moira; she had always been a puzzle to me, and I knew that there was no way now that I would ever figure her out. I looked down at her motionless body. She hadn't deserved to die, no more than Nightshade or Blackhope. The other Necromancer had done horrific things in her lifetime, things that were entirely unforgivable … but she had proven that she wasn't entirely evil. Moira Moonchaser had died to save my life.

I looked around at the others in the Crown of Fire. Heather was scribbling something frantically on a scrap of notebook paper. Traces of tears were still left on her face as she wrote rapidly, and she was biting her lip- maybe to keep herself from crying any more, perhaps. Erica, Destiny, Ashley and Chelsea were speaking in low voices to one another. Evan was staring at something in his hand, and Tristan was pacing back and forth. Kestrel was sitting cross legged on the ground, staring listlessly at the red rock, and Sabrina stood nearby, biting the end of her pointer finger. Arthas stood at the edge of the Crown, staring down at the seemingly endless drop.

"You aren't planning to jump, are you?" I asked in a dull tone. He glanced back at me, and then shook his head.

"Once I found her in the Titan World, she would kill me again for being stupid," he replied softly, almost smiling.

"Why are you all so sad? We should be happy … they were both villains. They needed to die," I said to the group, forcing the emotion from my face. It wasn't hard; the numbness I had once loved had returned to haunt me once more, wiping all traces of feelings from my mind. Destiny stared at me for a long moment before she replied.

"Alexandra, she saved your _life. _Malistaire was once your _father. _It's not a crime to mourn them, and you need to learn that it's okay to cry sometimes. No one is going to think you're weak. If you're sad, be sad. It's human nature, and you've got us here. You aren't alone this time."

"I'm not sad," I snapped loudly. It was a bald faced lie, and we both knew it- but I wouldn't be the first to admit it. "Come on. It's time to go home now." I picked up my backpack and cutlass, sheathing the sword with a loud _click_. Without waiting for the others, I strode towards the portal that would take me back to the Great Spire.

"How are we going to get out? The dungeon gate's guarded by Moira's demons!" Erica called, hurrying after me.

"Haven't you done your reading?" I snarled. "Demons are destroyed with their summoners. They'll be back home where they belong now, and it's about time _we _went home, too. It's been a year, and there are people you want to see. Hurry up."

-V-

When we stepped through the massive doorway to Ravina and Fyrina's room, the sisters stood and turned to face us. We waited silently as they scrutinized us. Finally, Ravina spoke.

"You have defeated the threat and returned the Titan to his sleep. You did well." She nodded in satisfaction.

"However, you did so at a price," Fyrina continued. "Twelve of you entered the mountain. Eleven stand here. You have lost Moira Moonchaser, the Necromancer. You, girl." Her eyes locked onto mine. "She died to save your life. You bury your grief and attempt to stay strong for the group, yet your pain is sharper than that of any other's. You lost someone very dear to you today, and you blame yourself for Moira's death." I stared at her in shock.

"How-"

"It's all in your eyes, Alexandra Firesong. The eyes tell a story, and the eyes do not conceal anything." She turned to Heather. "There is someone you miss very dearly, Heather Rosegem- someone you left behind. You wish to return to that person, and yet your grief is great as well. You mourn with your friend as deeply as though you were personally wounded. Evan Starblade, you have lost someone on this journey as well, and the wounds are still deep. You understand Alexandra's pain, although you feel it a bit differently." The Pyromancer nodded.

"We have no need to keep you here, unless you wish to stay. We will care for Moira's body. She will be entombed in the correct Dragonspyrian fashion, and we will put her in a place of honor. The fallen will lie beside the greatest warriors of the times past," Ravina informed us. There was sadness in her eyes, as well, and I remembered that Moira had once been one of her students.

"Return to Ravenwood now, and take the rest you have more than earned. Oh, and Alex … happy birthday." The Fire Professor grinned and winked at me. I couldn't bring myself to smile, but I nodded to her.

"Chelsea and Kestrel, are the two of you going to come back with us?" The Theurgist nodded immediately.

"I'm a Ravenwood student, after all, even if I come from Mooshu. My home can wait; you guys have been better friends to me than anyone I know there," she said firmly. I glanced at Kestrel.

"Where else would I go?" She asked simply. My small, tired and bedraggled group slowly made our way back across the war-ravaged world of Dragonspyre. It was time to go home.

_**A/N: **__This will be the last preview for the sequel. It's not as long as I was intending to make it, but I couldn't add much else without giving too much away. _

_"Enjoying the view?" A bored voice called out. I spun around, pulling my cutlass out of its scabbard in the blink of an eye._

_"Who are you?" I snapped, glaring at the strange newcomer. She leaned up against the wall with her arms crossed. Short, shaggy black hair fell into one eye, obscuring it from view. Her visible eye, which was slate gray, inspected us through a half-closed eyelid. Her high collared, long sleeved robes were pitch black and violet purple, which contrasted sharply with her unnaturally pale skin. One corner of her mouth turned up slightly as I spoke._

_"You'll know, soon enough." _


	59. Chapter 59: Home

_**A/N: **__ERMAHGERD WE'RE FINALLY TO THE LAST CHAPTER! XD After this will be the acknowledgements chapter, and then The Journey of Fire's Song begins next week! XD Thanks to anyone who reviewed chapter 58. In response …_

_**NightSkyWolves: **__Yeah, I've noticed that I've been making the chapters particularly short since those two long chapters a while back. My new goal for the sequel is to write 1,500 words per chapter instead of only 1,000. X) _

_**LexiLopezi: **__Maybe … maybe not. X) The new person's identity will be revealed soon enough, don't worry. :D XD _

We had a much easier time getting back to the Spiral Door. Since Malistaire's plan had been thwarted and the Dragon Titan slept once more, the Undead and the drakes seemed to be much more peaceful- perhaps not to the point of world peace, but it was as close as the dilapidated world was likely to come for several years. I couldn't help staring at the crumbling buildings as we passed, imagining them in their glory of my childhood days and wondering if they could be rebuilt. Maybe that would be my new project someday …

The Basilica was silent when my group stepped through the portal from the Dragonspyre Academy.

"Have you ever been to Ravenwood?" Heather asked Kestrel as we climbed the high ramp towards the Spiral Door.

"No. I had never left Avalon before Moira and Malistaire took me." She frowned. "My mother and father once knew Headmaster Ambrose, and they were both students at Ravenwood a long, long time ago. My mother was a Necromancer, like I am, and my father was a Diviner."

"Is that where you learned Storm magic?"

"Mm-hmm."

"You'll love it in Ravenwood," Evan informed the shorter girl. "It's the most beautiful place, especially when you see it for the first time."

"The trees can talk, and they're all super friendly," Erica continued.

"There are more flowers than you could ever count."

"The professors are awesome, and the other students can be pretty cool, too."

"The air smells sweet, and it's always the perfect temperature. It never rains or anything, not unless you're in the Storm School." Kestrel smiled as she listened to our description of the school.

"It sounds amazing."

"Donna would tell you about the butterflies," I murmured. "She would say that you can dance in the Commons pond all day, and you'll never feel tired or weak. She would tell you about all the kinds of pets you'd see there. She would talk about all the colors and smells and sights." Destiny gently touched my shoulder.

"I miss her, too," she said softly. I silently tapped the Ravenwood Spiral Key over the Spiral Door, which swung open to reveal a silvery portal. I glanced over my shoulder once more, looking back at the distant Crown of Fire. I highly doubted that I would ever go back to the Crown; there were too many bad memories there, too many poisonous reminders of the painful ordeal that had taken place atop the enormous mountain. I shook my head slightly and stepped into the portal.

With the exception of a pair of giggling initiate girls, the Spiral Chamber was empty. I simply stood there for a moment, drinking in the warm sunlight and the peaceful atmosphere that I had missed so much. The others weren't far behind me. Kestrel looked around in amazement and awe at the inside chamber of Bartleby.

I marveled at the quiet peace of Ravenwood as we stepped out of the Spiral Chamber. The outdoor haven was busy as usual and peaceful as usual. It looked as though we'd only been gone a few minutes. No one was in any particular hurry, and time moved along at its own pace. A group of teenaged girls were standing together, giggling about some new drama. A journeyman boy was seated next to one of Bartleby's massive roots, staring blankly at a sheet of paper in front of him. Students walked along the path, heading this way or that way, meandering slowly towards their Schools. It was a completely average day in Ravenwood.

I hadn't exactly been expecting a fanfare and streamers to welcome us home; after all, we'd been gone a year. None of us had really communicated with Wizard City- well, except for Heather, who had written monthly letters to her sister- and most people probably thought that we were dead. Then again, the lack of destruction on the Dragon Titan's level was a good sized clue as to our victory, if nothing else.

I started heading for the Commons. Headmaster Ambrose would need to know of our return, after all. My friends followed me- even Kestrel, who was staring at her surroundings with wide eyes.

The Commons was just as I remembered it, and exactly as busy as the day we'd left for Krokotopia. There was no sign of stress or suffering in the busy streets. I remembered my first trip to the Commons, and I recalled seeing the peace among the wizards walking to and fro- yet there had also been the ones that had seen war, had seen death, and had dealt with more pain than anyone knew. My friends and I were those people now.

As I pushed open the door to the Headmaster's office, the cluster of chatty initiates turned to see who had entered. They all went silent. Whether it was because I was creepy looking or because they knew who I was, I couldn't say. Headmaster Ambrose stood, adjusting his monocle to make sure he was seeing us clearly.

"…Alexandra Firesong? Can that be you?" He asked, sounding shocked beyond belief. I nodded slowly.

"We're back, Headmaster," I told him quietly. The initiates continued to stare.

"My, my … I never expected that I would see any of you again." The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled warmly. "I am so very glad you've all returned."

"Headmaster," Evan began, taking a step forwards. "This is Kestrel Nightshade." He pulled the other Necromancer forwards slightly. "We met her in Marleybone, and she's been traveling with us for about six months."

"And _this _is Arthas," Erica added, giving the Theurgist a small push.

"It is wonderful to meet you, Kestrel and Arthas." The elderly Headmaster approached us and shook their hands. "Tell me; how did everything turn out?"

"Malistaire and Moira are dead," I said shortly.

"I see … and where are the two best friends? Miss Dragonflame and Miss Swiftriver?" He looked over my head to see the rest of the group, as if expecting to see them at the back.

"They're dead," Destiny told him softly. Evan frowned, and Ashley bit her lip hard. "Donna died saving our lives in Krokotopia, and we lost Brooke in Mooshu."

"Oh … oh, my … this is terrible news, young wizards." He paused for a moment, as if trying to decide what to say. "We must have a memorial service for them at some point, of course."

"Yeah. Yeah, we do. They died to save this place; the least everyone can do is give them some kind of credit for it."

"Oh …" Chelsea seemed to suddenly remember something.

"What?"

"Who's going to tell their parents?" She whispered. Headmaster Ambrose closed his eyes.

"I will." My friends looked at me in shock.

"Alex, you don't have to-"

"I know. I want to. I'm the one that dragged them into this, so I might as well be the one to tell their parents what happened. Oh, and Headmaster?"

"Hmm?"

"If anyone ever makes a memorial to Donna and Brooke, make sure there's one for Malistaire and Moira, too." He seemed like he was about to protest, but then thought better of it and kept his mouth shut.

"Of course."

"Thanks." I turned to leave. "Go back home, guys. You more than deserve to see your families again." Most of the group dispersed, but Kestrel and Arthas waited behind. I paused as I opened the door. "There are a few spare rooms in my house, if you guys need a place to stay," I said on an impulse. Kestrel's face brightened into a smile.

"Thanks, Alexandra."

"Uh huh. Don't think you're moving in permanently, though," I warned, and the two chuckled. "I'm not kidding!" I called over my shoulder.

As I left the Headmaster's office, I started to walk. I wasn't entirely sure where I was headed. Soon enough, I found myself standing in Olde Town, staring up at the long-empty house that had belonged to Sylvia and Malistaire. Life would be strange without them, but I supposed that I'd move on eventually; I'd bury my sadness like I had done before. Life would continue whether I was ready or not, so all I could do was hope to keep up. I thought of my friends then. Destiny had said that I was no longer alone, and I knew deep in my heart that she was right. I wasn't quite ready to admit it just yet- at least not out loud - but my friends would be there to keep me afloat, just as I would help them whenever they needed it.

Something hit me on the head, and I looked up. It was just beginning to rain. For the first time in weeks, I allowed myself to smile- just a little, but it was something. Donna had loved the rain. It was almost as if she was saying that she was there with me, just as my other friends always would be.

"Thank you," I whispered to her. A bright red and gold butterfly flew past, landing on the windowsill of the house. I stared at it for a moment, and then burst out laughing.

_**A/N: **__Why do I feel like that was the cheesiest ending I've ever written in the history of my life? O_o_


	60. Chapter 60: Acknowledgements

_I would like to thank the following people for reviewing this story: XemnasisMANSEX0-0, tac1060, Flo, Nami, SuperYuuki, Shugo Chara Lover12, i love all yaoi, 105maddie105, scarletfireblade, georgerules610, Zombie Assassin 21, SportzDawg, Scarlet SilverWeaver, scarletfireblaze, Bethy-Boodles, sock-feet-and-stirring-sand, NinjaPig, LeAnn Haddad, Lord Energy, Percabeth03, cuttingmoon57, QuayJaquelinXeomaraZendaya, Oakhead Lord, Hope Eternal, r-V, shadowwalker00, LexiLopezi, KokoroChan, DeathySophia, Fanguy59, Kana Kazeflame, awesomesocks, xXSniperKingXx, wizard101wyverngirl, Egg of Doom, ETGS, Bookworm210, SamFrancisco, anthonysupericewizard, NightSkyWolves, Galactica Z. Stellar, Gamergirl and Guest. :D You guys are all awesome! _

_Second order of business: Serious individual acknowledgements. Thanks to …_

_**XemnasisMANSEX0-0**__: For being my first ever reviewer (both on this story and on fan fiction) and for submitting Destiny Greenblossom, the first O.C., who went on to become Alexandra's best friend. :D _

_**Flo: **__For sending me my first anonymous review, both on this story and on fan fiction. :D_

_**Nami: **__For giving me the first piece of constructive criticism I ever received. :D_

_**SuperYuuki: **__For submitting the villain O.C. for this story, for being the only person to submit TWO O.C.'s, for drawing several pictures involving DoFS and also for writing a few of the chapters for it. :D _

_**Guest: **__There were actually two of you. To the first Guest, thanks for the awesome review, and also the first completely anonymous review. :) _

_**Lord Energy: **__Because you're my brother, and therefore require an acknowledgement. :D Also, for the plot/canon detail help when I needed it and for letting me kidnap Evan from you. xD_

_**Cuttingmoon57: **__For submitting one of the most critical (in a good way) reviews I've ever gotten. :D_

_**QuayJaquelinXeomaraZendaya: **__For being the only person (to my knowledge) to never play the game and read my story anyways. :D (Plus you're one of my best friends … xD) _

_**Sock-feet-and-stirring-sand: **__For submitting the first O.C. for "The Journey of Fire's Song." _

_**Scarletfireblaze: **__For being my 100__th__ reviewer, for being the only person to read just about every one of my stories, for reviewing this story more times than anyone else, and for being my first "regular reviewer" :D _

_Third order of business: Slightly less serious individual acknowledgements. Thanks to …_

_**Georgerules610: **__For the shortest review. XD_

_**XemnasisMANSEX0-0**__: For the longest review. XD _

_**r-V: **__For the strangest review. XD _

_**Scarlet SilverWeaver: **__For noticing my ice cream sandwich addiction. XD_

_**NinjaPig: **__For laughing at one of my less funny parts. XD (Although I completely understand why … I laugh at it too, now that I look back at it. XD) _

_**Nami: **__For sharing my fear of zombies. XD That part might not make the final edit of that chapter … XD_

_**Scarletfireblaze **__and __**sock-feet-and-stirring-sand: **__For the biggest reactions to Donna's death. XD_

_**SuperYuuki: **__For cursing in your reviews more than any other reviewer … scratch that, more than all the other reviewers combined. O_o XD_

_**Galactica Z. Stellar: **__For having an awesome pen name. XD_

_Fourth order of business: Multiple person acknowledgements. Thanks to …_

_**XemnasisMANSEX0-0, tac1060, Flo, SuperYuuki, Lord Energy, Shugo Chara Lover12, i love all yaoi, SportzDawg, Zombie Assassin 21, scarletfireblade, 105maddie105 **__and__** Bethy-Boodles: **__For submitting O.C.'s to this story._

_**Percabeth03, Hope Eternal, SportzDawg, LexiLopezi, Kokoro Chan, LeAnn Haddad, DeathySophia **__and__** xXSniperKingXx: **__For submitting O.C.'s for The Journey of Fire's Song._

_**Lord Energy, SuperYuuki, Nami, scarletfireblaze, QuayJaquelinXeomaraZendaya, sock-feet-and-stirring-sand, xXSniperKingXx, DeathySophia, Zombie Assassin 21 **__and __**Cuttingmoon57 **__for giving me constructive criticism! :D_

_**Georgerules, NinjaPig, i love all yaoi, cuttingmoon57, Percabeth03, shadowwalker00, r-V, Hope Eternal, OakheadLord, Kana Kazeflame, Fanguy 59, awesomesocks, Sam Francisco, Bookworm210, Galactica Z. Stellar, Gamergirl **__and__** ETGS **__for only reviewing one time. :) _

_To all of you, thank you very much for reviewing and for supporting me throughout the writing of this story. I greatly appreciate it, and I hope to hear from you again in The Journey of Fire's Song! :) _

_I will be continuing with chapter rewrites for this story, although I've got no schedule for those at the moment._

_I'm pretty sure that JoFS will be published within a week or two; I've been working on chapter 1 off and on since the beginning of Dragonspyre, so it all depends on when I get time to finish it up. Until then, adios, amigos! :D_

_~Firestorm Nauralagos_


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